A Rose by any other name
by Sitting Pretty Still
Summary: Rose Weasley is off to Hogwarts, and knows she'll take to it like a duck to water. But how well can she cope when a chance meeting with Scorpius Malfoy means that she'll fly in the face of expectation? Rated M for language, violence and range of opinions.
1. In which Rose meets Scorpius

Rose Weasley was sat in the corner of a carriage in the Hogwarts express, reading a book. Only those sitting closest to her- her cousins Albus and Roxanne- could see her hands shaking. "Listen, Rose" said Roxanne, in an undertone. "You and Albus will be fine. I should know; I went through this last year. Plus, I had to do it without an amazing, wise older cousin to help me. Count yourself lucky!" She patted Rose on the shoulder, and then went back to chatting with Ella, her best friend. Rose _was_ reassured. A little bit. It was just...well, she was so nervous! The only people she knew were Roxanne, Albus and James, and she didn't expect James to hang around for long. Nor would Roxie, come to think of it. Albus might last a little longer, but what if they were sorted into different houses! She was sure to get into Ravenclaw, everyone said it, but Al was...well, he was a little slow. Rose smirked to herself, remembering how he'd spent days in bed, after eating a bunch of blood lollipops, instead of regular ones by mistake. He'd been vomiting blood (luckily, not his) for hours.

Lost in thought, Rose didn't notice the compartment doors opening until a small, pale boy was thrown roughly to the floor by a few older looking kids. "And you can stay in here, Malfoy!" one of them snarled. "We don't want your kind in our compartment." He looked up from the scrawny boy, and suddenly seemed to notice everyone staring at him and his friends. "Oh, sorry to bother you. We just had to let him know his place." Nodding pleasantly, the boys walked away, leaving a carriage of stunned faces behind them. As soon as they'd gone, Albus and Ella had rushed to help the boy up.

"Are you ok?" Albus gasped. "What were they doing that for?" The boy –Malfoy, he had been called- flushed and pulled away from his helpers.

"None of your business! Get off me!" He looked like he was about to burst into tears, thought Rose. She was deeply shocked at how violent the boys had been but...

"Malfoy? You're Draco Malfoy's kid?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am. Scorpius Malfoy. And in answer to your question", he said to Al, "that is why they were being like that. Malfoys are scum now, or hadn't you heard?" His lip wobbled, and he sat down in the empty seat opposite Rose. Albus looked like he was about to say more, but at that moment Roxie kicked him, and gave a warning look.

"So..." she said hesitantly, "are you looking forwards to Hogwarts? You're a first year, right?"

"What do you think! Of course I'm not looking forwards to it. It's my first day, and already I've been...I've been..."

Roxie looked panicked. She really wasn't good at cheering people up, thought Rose wryly. Leaving her book in her seat, she strode over to Malfoy, sitting down on the empty seat next to him.

"Look," she said kindly, "You can get upset, and nobody would blame you. But if you do, you'd be letting those morons win. They don't know you, and is this really how you want people to see you? A cry baby? Don't worry about those kids; it'll be fine when you're sorted. And you can stay with us, until then."  
"Sure" chorused the others, their faces a mix of concern, worry and, yes, a little mistrust.

"Thanks" muttered Scorpius. He didn't look tearful anymore, noted Rose, but he was still a little ashamed. "So who are you, anyway?

"I'm Rose, Rose Weasley" She stuck out her hand, but withdrew it slowly, at the dawning look of horror on Scorpius's face.

"You're a Weasley?" he asked, aghast.

"I am. Is that an issue?" she replied coolly. Her eyes glinted angrily, warning Scorpius that he was treading on thin ice.

"Well...no, it's just..."  
"We're supposed to hate each other?"  
"Well yeah, basically." Relief suffused Scorpius's tone, as Rose seemed to calm down a little.

"Well...we could give it a try, I suppose" she said doubtfully. "Insulting each other and stuff. Um...Pure blood brat?"

"Half blood scum"  
"Blondie"  
"Freckles"  
"Snob!"

"Hey, you don't know that! We've only just met!" objected Scorpius. Rose considered the point.

"True. Look, I'm sorry, this hating you thing just isn't working. I'm trying, but I'm just not feeling it."

Scorpius chuckled. "That's ok. So how are you?"

The sun had set and the velvet night was sprinkled with stars by the time James decided to make an appearance in the carriage. He burst in, with a manic grin on his face, and jumped up to the corner were Rose, Scorpius and Albus had been sat for the past hours, chattering quietly.

"It's ok, it's ok! You can stop crying! I am finally here!"

"James, shut up, you look like a total idiot. Now what do you want?"

"It's lovely to see you too, Al", drawled James, "I want nothing but your company. I'm bored. We were playing exploding snap, but John lost, got in a mood, and vanished the cards. He's such a loser." A small motion in the corner –Scorpius trying to hide from this exuberant nightmare- drew James's attention. "Ah!" he beamed. "New kid! Care to introduce me Rose?"

"Oh, right, sorry. James, meet Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius, this is my dickhead cousin, James Potter." Rose winked at her cousin, who was rooted to the spot, spluttering.

"Bu...But...what! Malfoy? What the hell are you doing with him, Al, Rose! He's a Voldemort lover!" James looked furious, fumbling in his robe for his wand and muttering curses under his breath.

"Don't you dare, James!" yelled Albus. "If you put so much as one spell on Scorpius, I'll write to mum and dad. They won't be happy!" James sneered. Obviously, thought Rose, that wasn't much of a threat. She guessed that James had been in trouble since he'd begun at Hogwarts, two years ago.

"Oh don't worry Al," James snarled. "Mum and dad WILL hear of this. And then we'll see who's in trouble." He stormed out of the corridor, leaving a shocked silence. The three first years looked stunned, until Roxanne leaned over and whispered

"Don't worry about James, Scorpius. He's always been a bit odd like that. His dad's reputation's given him an ego the size of a giant. _If_ you're as nice as you seem, he'll come around."

At the word "if", Rose glared at Roxie: how dare she insinuate that Scorpius was lying! But Roxanne had already turned back to her own conversation, and Al had begun to chat to Scorpius again. She quickly became drawn back into their conversation...

"First years! Over here! Head towards the light, if you're a first year!" At the sound of the lilting Australian voice, a swarm of first years hurried over to a lit wand, held up high in the air. "Welcome children. I am Neta Hardcastle, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, and it is my duty to escort you all to Hogwarts. Please follow me. When we arrive at the harbour, find a boat and sit down, no more than four people to each one. A warning: do not rock the boat; if you fall in, Hogwarts cannot be held accountable for the events that follow." The last comment caused a storm of muttering, Rose noticed, especially among the children who looked least comfortable in their Hogwarts robes. She could only assume they were the muggleborns.

"She means the giant squid, I bet" whispered Scorpius, knowledgably. "Did you hear about how it almost drowned someone last year?" Rose, busy trying to keep hold of her wriggling cat, paused, looking sceptical.

"If that's the case, how come it's still here? They'd have killed it for sure!" Scorpius snorted, and even Albus rolled his eyes at that comment.

"Yeah, let me know when you find someone willing to attack a giant squid." Rose had to admit –grudgingly- that Scorpius had a point.

"Yeah, well...shut up. Come on, we need to find a boat." Blushing, Rose led the way to the small, cobbled harbour and stepped carefully into one of the few rowing boats left. She was swiftly followed by Scorpius, Albus and, after a short interval, a curly haired blonde girl wearing pink spectacles who proclaimed herself Tanya. Rose shook hands with her, and introduced herself. The second Tanya realised who Rose was, her mouth dropped open and she flushed until she matched her glasses.

"Oh my god!" she gasped breathily, "Your parents are totally famous! Is it true that they broke out of Gringotts on a dragon? Because I heard someone talking about it, but it just sounds so-"

"Yeah." replied Rose, bored. "It's true. They also fought at the battle of Hogwarts, and were on the run with Harry Potter."

"Oh everyone knows that" was the dismissive reply "but there are so many rumours... It is such an honour to meet you. Did your parents teach you any magic? You know, to defend against the dark arts?"

Rose frowned. She was 11, what kind of magic did this girl think Rose was able to do? Only the most basic spells had worked for Rose so far, and that was with her mother's help.

"No, of course no-"

"My dad taught her some. She's my cousin. I'm Albus, Albus Potter." Rose's jaw dropped, her gaze incredulous. What was Al on about? Harry hadn't taught her anything, thought it wasn't safe! She was about to speak up, tell the truth, maybe question Albus's sanity, when Scorpius's foot collided with her shin and she let out a small yelp. He glanced meaningfully at her, and indicated she keep quiet.

"No way! You're Ha-Harry Potter's son? That is so amazing! He killed You-Know-Who!"

Albus chuckled, though he appeared a little pink. He seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

"I know. But my family doesn't call him You-Know-Who. We say Voldemort." This made Tanya look even more impressed, if that were possible. _If her mouth were any wider, shed be able to catch flies_ thought Rose, acidly. She looked at Scorpius. He had a strange expression on his face, as if he was strongly resisting the urge to burst out laughing.  
"She blatantly fancies him" whispered Scorpius, excitedly. "She's not bad looking, either".

Rose rolled her eyes. She knew she'd change her mind soon, but right now, boys annoyed her. Scorpius was better than most, but still a little irritating. Still, Tanya and Al were hitting it off, so it looked like she was stuck with Scorpius, for the boat ride at least. And he wasn't totally bad company. Rose suddenly realised she'd been staring into space, as Scorpius waved a hand in front of her face

"Oops, sorry", she said. "I was just thinking."

"Anything interesting?"

"Nah, just wondering about Hogwarts" Rose lied fluently "Wondering what house everyone will be sorted in. Do you have any idea?"

"Well, I know my dad is hoping for Slytherin," mused Scorpius, "but I'm not sure if I mind that much. So long as it isn't Hufflepuff, anyway. Ravenclaw doesn't sound _too _bad"

"That's where I'm going. It sounds like the best house to me, although dad wants me to get into Gryffindor." She rolled her eyes. "James got into Gryffindor, and look at him! No, I don't want to be one of them. Ravenclaw is my house. It has to be."

"I had you pegged down for a Gryffindor, actually. Saving poor stray Malfoys? Very noble."  
"Oh ha ha ha" was Rose's sarcastic reply. However, Scorpius noticed that a small smile graced her face, though she tried to hide it.

"Anyway," Rose continued "Why bother guessing? We'll be finding out for real soon, look!" She pointed forwards, and Scorpius suddenly realised that a turret was coming into view, peeping out from behind a craggy hill. From the gasps all down the procession, Rose gathered that they were not the only ones to notice.

"We're actually here, Rose!" whispered Albus, in a strangled voice "Hogwarts! Oh my god, look at it!" Rose didn't reply, instead gazing at the slowly emerging castle. She was so distracted, she didn't realise that the boats were travelling into shallower waters until there was a large thump, and she slid off her perch onto the floor of the boat. The floor of the boat that happened to contain a few inches of stagnant, muddy water. As the sound of Tanya's low pitched giggles filtered through to her brain, Rose growled quietly, clenching her fists and on the verge of tears. _It would happen tonight, wouldn't it_. She thought. _Just as I'm about to be judged by the entire school, I would fall into a great load of filthy water. Brilliant_. Albus seemed to sense her humiliation and shushed Tanya; to her great relief, neither he nor Scorpius had laughed.

"Stand up" ordered Scorpius kindly. She did as he asked, and he craned his neck, to check the extent of the damage. "Nothing too bad, I promise. A little mud around the back, but..." He reached out to brush it off, but caught himself as he realised where exactly it was, and what exactly he'd be touching. "Er... on second thoughts, perhaps you'd better do it." he muttered, ears flaming. Rose giggled at his expression, and dried her eyes, before wiping off the worst of the mud. "Well...that'll have to do I suppose."

Umm...Rose?" asked Tanya, hesitantly, "If you care so much, why don't you ask that Nette Hardcastle lady? I mean, she's a witch right? I'm sure she could clean your robes, no trouble!" The idea was met with silence. In fact, Rose, Scorpius and Albus all looked a little stunned.

"That's so...obvious" said Albus, perplexed. "Why did none of us think of that?"

"Well, _one _of us did!" replied Tanya, stung.

"Oh, I know, yeah. It's just...well, you don't know Rose. She's possibly the biggest know it all in the UK!" –He dodged Rose's slightly inaccurate kick, and continued- "Normally, she'd have thought of a solution the second it happened, and already be clean and dry by now. It's just...odd." He laughed somewhat nervously. "I guess you get nerves after all, Rosie."  
Rose glared at him. Casting a slightly scared look at Rose, Tanya shuffled away from Albus, as Scorpius looked on, amused.

"Ok two things, dung brain. One, don't call me Rosie if you like your face the shape it is. Two, I never said I didn't have nerves. Besides, they make you perform better. It's a well known fact."

"Hey, don't call me-"

"Over here, children!" interrupted Nette, loudly. "Follow me to the entrance hall and wait there for further instructions." Rose nearly tripped over her robes in her haste to ask the gamekeeper to clean her robes up, but, to her great relief, the woman complied. In moments, Rose, looked just as neat (if not more so) as she had done before her unfortunate slip. She managed to slip into line just behind her cousin.

"Sorry I snapped" she mumbled, a little shame faced. "I was just worried that I'd have to get sorted covered I mud."  
"It's ok, Rose. I honestly didn't mean to upset you. You have to admit though, it was a little funny. My god, your face..."

Rose was just about to reply, when the line stopped moving, and Scorpius bumped into her from behind.

"Sorry"

"No problem. We're here. Nervous?"

"Yeah, a little."

"Don't worry, Scorp. You'll do great. Hey...we can stay friends, right? If we're sorted in different houses, I mean."

"Course. Who do you think I am, my dad? I don't care about that stuff, so long as I like you. Now shut up, Hardcastle is talking."

Rose rolled her eyes, but faced forwards and tuned into what the gamekeeper was saying. Yet she had a hard time concentrating on the witch's voice as the students began shuffling into the entrance hall. It was so overwhelming! She was used to magic, but grandeur on this scale was totally new to her, Albus, and probably every single first year there...


	2. In which the first years are sorted

The first years all huddled together, as if for protection, as an elderly witch with a shock of white hair entered the room.

"Welcome, students. My name is Professor Earnestine, and I am here to guide you through the sorting process so it is completed with as little fuss as possible. When you all walk through those doors," (Earnestine pointed at a huge pair of doors which dominated the room) "you will see the rest of the school already seated. Do not be alarmed, you'll soon be able to join them, and I hope you'll find them friendly and understanding. There are four houses: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Whichever you are sorted into will be your home for the next seven years. They will support, guide and be there for you. In addition to your fellow students, one member of staff is assigned as head of house. Myself for Ravenclaw, Professor Applebee for Hufflepuff, Professor Hagrid for Gryffindor and Professor Parkinson for Slytherin. Now, without further ado, I welcome you to Hogwarts, and now, please follow me."

The spindly witch heaved open the enormous doors, and led the frightened children into the hall. Rose, mindful of what her mother had told her, lurked near the back, so less attention would be drawn to her. Albus was quivering next to her: whether with excitement or nerves Rose could not tell. A huge buzzing surrounded her, and she had the impression of a thousand blurred faces staring at her. She gulped, legs suddenly shaking and stared hard at the fraying hat that had been placed at the centre of the room. Her parents had warned her what would happen, and so she was unsurprised (though many other first years gasped or even shrieked in shock) when a tear opened and the hat proclaimed

At Hogwarts I was crafted  
Though Many years ago  
And through the ages I have seen  
Great wizards come and go

While we glory in these days of peace  
We still must all recall  
The sacrifices that were made  
To escape the Dark Lord's thrall

Hist'ry can repeat itself  
The precedence is clear  
So while you're learning magic skills  
Keep your morals near

The pointless deaths of war will haunt  
This hat for all of time  
For man and beast died readily,  
Paid for one man's crime

Witch and wizard, muggle and squib  
must learn to live together  
The responsibility lies in us all  
To ride out stormy weather

If Slytherin, where cunning go,  
Or Gryffindor the brave,  
maybe Ravenclaw the clever ones,  
Or Hufflepuff the sage

As I have said so many times  
And I will say again  
Do not let the houses  
Separate those who might be friend

Whether Ravenclaw or Gryffindor  
Hufflepuff or Slytherin  
You must unite for what is right  
Lest be destroyed from within

And though I'm just a sorting hat  
I may not have a heart  
I know I've kept you long enough  
So let the sorting now start!

As soon as the hat had finished its recitation, the entire hall burst into applause, screaming and stomping wildly. Rose raised an eyebrow. They seemed as excited as if 'Charmed Love' (Rose's favourite band) had appeared. Whilst the thought of the magic that must have been poured into that hat was exciting, it wasn't as if it hadn't been done before. People could be so dramatic. Glancing sideways, she noticed that Albus wasn't unaffected either.

"Didn't Harry tell you what was going to happen?" she asked acidly, over the applause, " Mum and dad told me _ages_ ago!"  
"Merlin, Rose, relax! I knew it was coming. It's just pretty cool!" Al's eyes were shining. _It's pathetic,_ thought Rose, _how easily impressed some people are._ Looking beyond Albus, she noticed that Scorpius looked bored, and was shifting impatiently from foot to foot. _Good. At least someone has a little sense_.

The elderly professor Earnestine stepped forwards once more.

"When I call out your name children, sit on the stool and place the hat on your head. This hat will then decide your house. When your sorting is complete, please join your house table, and when everyone has been sorted, the welcoming feast will begin."

After she had finished her instructions, the professor unrolled a long parchment scroll, and an almost electric buzz ran through the first years as she called

"Brown, Heather"

A small, peaky looking girl stepped towards the stool, trembling slightly. She placed the hat on her head and paused, brow furrowed, as if concentrating or listening hard. After a moment, the hat yelled out:

"Ravenclaw!" Applause sprang up, particularly from the third table, which she tottered over to and sat down. Rose clapped politely, wondering if she'd get on with this Heather girl, when she herself was sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Creevey, Colin"  
"Hufflepuff!"

"Calwell, Jasmine"  
"Slytherin!"

"Malfoy, Scorpius!" Rose looked up, quickly, as loud and angry mutters suddenly swept the room. Ugly words, "traitor", "scum", "murderer's bastard" filled her ears, and to her horror, she saw he was flushing to the roots of his hair, and looking like he'd cry again.

"Scorpius!" she whispered urgently. "Ignore them! They don't know anything about you. They aren't worth it. Don't you _dare_ cry in front of all these people..."

He looked slightly more composed, though still blushing horribly as he strode over to the hat, standing tall. _He looks good,_ thought Rose. _Like he couldn't care less._ The sorting hat hesitated a few seconds with Scorpius, but eventually called out  
"Slytherin" There was a smattering applause, some booing (quickly cowed by a single glare from the headmistress), and Scorpius hurried to sit down. Now that potential disaster was over, Rose tuned out, already bored and dreading the wait until her own name was called out. _Why did mum have to marry a Weasley? Why not an Artwell or something? At least it'd be over with by now..._

"Potter, Albus"

A slight hush fell over the hall at the famous surname, as Al, looking so much like pictures of his dad, walked over shakily to the hat. _Don't fall!_ prayed Rose, worried about her cousin despite herself. She waited. Was it her, or was the hat taking longer than usual? No, she could hear a low buzzing from the older students, which surely indicated this much time was unusual. However, after about a minute of deliberation the hat proclaimed him a Gryffindor, and he got the largest round of applause yet. Rose was relieved. Both her cousin and Scorpius were sorted, and now there were only around five people left until it was her turn. She tried to imagine what the feast would be like, to pass the time. Though she had never starved at home, not by any means, neither of her parents were especially talented cooks, and her only experience of truly outstanding food was whenever she went to visit grandma Weasley.

Lost in her contemplation of food, Rose missed her name being announced and had to rush to the stool after the only other first year left elbowed her hard in the ribs. She sat down, feeling the wooden seat, worn smooth by countless generations of witches and wizards. This, more than anything else that night made her realise how special, how important this school was. But there was no time for an epiphany, or even a sudden realisation. Rose quickly thrust the hat over her head, and grinned as it slid over her eyes and down to her nose.

"Rose Weasley?" Ah, this should be easy. An entire family of Gryffindors. So let's put you- but wait... You don't want to be in Gryffindor, am I right? You're too ambitious for that? Too intelligent?

"That's right" thought Rose at the hat. "Um...sir." she added uncertainly. The hat seemed to chuckle dryly inside her mind, and Rose got the impression of years and years of accumulated dust being expelled in that one laugh.

"You want to be a Ravenclaw? Well, if you're sure... But there's another house you're better suited to. They'll help you more, and surely this will pave the way to your success. Are you sure you still wish to be a Ravenclaw?"

Rose gasped, and bit her lip. She'd wanted to be a Ravenclaw for years, ever since her dad explained what the houses were. But if it was better for her...

"No, sir. I think I'd rather do well than be put in Ravenclaw for the sake of my daydreams."

"Very well. SLYTHERIN!"

Rose gasped. Loudly.

"Slytherin? No! I can't! I...I..." She was panicking, practically hyperventilating. When the mouldy old hat had said the house would help her, she'd been sure it was Hufflepuff. That was bad enough. But Slytherin? It was against everything her parents had ever stood for! Oh god... her parents... Dad was going to kill her...

The last thing she remembered was looking over at the Slytherin table and seeing Scorpius gazing at her, confounded. Then, the floor seemed to be rushing up to meet her, and the world went black.


	3. Dear Scorpius

12/9/2017

Dear Scorpius,

I'm sorry I haven't written to you sooner, but the ministry is in an uproar, what with the Quidditch World Cup back in England next year.

Since I'm on the security taskforce, the entire family get complimentary tickets! So don't book any holidays with your pals over the summer.

I'm afraid your mother is ill in bed, she's come down with the vanishing sickness, it's absolutely disgusting at home, vomit everywhere, and you're

lucky you left in time. I feel sorry for the poor maid; she's had to clean out almost every room in the house twice!

Congratulations on making Slytherin house! It really is the finest of them all, full of tradition, and the people will certainly spur you on to

greater heights. I remember the early years of Hogwarts with great fondness, largely due to the friends I made in my house. Please be

careful to keep your head down, and avoid some of the mistakes that I made. One Dark Lord was enough, I think.

Congratulations aside, I have to move onto a more serious matter. Your headmistress has sent me an owl informing me that you're

experiencing a certain amount of bullying. I must say I was expecting this, and that's why I was unsure whether to send you to Hogwarts or

not. As you know, Nott's child is being homeschooled for the same reason. All I can do is advise you to talk to a teacher when this happens-

Professor Parkinson is an old acquaintance of mine, and I'm sure she'd be willing to help. Headmistress McGonagall also mentioned that you've

become friends with A Weasley and that Albus Potter kid. I can't say that doesn't worry me- their parents were not very nice people as I recall,

but I know that I can't stop you from befriending them. All I ask is that you remain on guard, at least for a while, and don't be too upset if they

decide that old feuds run too deep.

You have no idea how proud I am of you son, now enjoy yourself, and let me know how everything is going.

Love and kisses,

Your father,

_**Draco**_

P.S Annie says hello, and told me to remind you that we she's old enough to go to Hogwarts, you're going to have to show her around, so make

sure you remember where everything is.


	4. Dear Rosie

September 19th 2017

Dear Rosie,

I'm glad to hear you're settling in well, and it's fantastic that you've made new friends already. Please remember to keep your cousin company, I hear from Harry that he's missing you, though having a whale of a time.

In answer to your question, yes i WAS only joking when i said that you'd be disowned if you got sorted into Slytherin, and yes, of course you can come home over the summer. It was very insensitive of me to joke, and I hope you're happy in your house. On no accounts are you allowed to stay at your friend Scorpius's house, no matter how nice he is, or how much his dad has changed. However, if you insist, and he is still agreeable at the end of the year, he can stay at the burrow for ONE WEEK ONLY. We'll talk more nearer the time.

I have to say, you nearly gave your poor old mum apoplexy when you wrote about how you made friends with the Malfoy kid. When she said not to be too competitive, I don't think that's what she had in mind. But, as long as you're sure he's ok, I guess it would be unfair of us to prevent your friendship. Please please PLEASE be careful around him, as he is, after all, the son of a former death eater. And you might want to let him know that if her hurts you or Al, there's about 9 Weasleys plus a few Grangers and Potters who are eager to take care of him. But enough about that.

Your mother and I were delighted to hear about your 100% in transfiguration, and asked me to pass on her congratulations. She'd do it herself, but it sounds like the house elves are ready to go on strike, something that your mother wants to avoid at all costs. I hope she succeeds: who knows what we'll do without Blinky?

I'm glad to hear you're keeping up at your flying & Quidditch: after all the training i gave you, plus the practise you're putting in, maybe they'll let you into the reserve team! It would make me SO proud. Remember, Weasleys always emerge triumphant!

Write back soon, love from

Daddy Weasley

XXX

P.S. See if you can guess which bit your mother made me add? (clue: It's the bit about me being insensitive- as if I could EVER be insensitive)

P.P.S Please behave, and don't go pureblood on me. Not that you would. I hope.

P.P.P.S Hugo wants me to tell you that he's scared of you now you're a Slytherin. Don't worry, I sent him to his room.


	5. In which Rose has a secret

After two weeks at Hogwarts, Rose Weasley was starting to settle down. She no longer got lost on her way to class, and had even begun to search for the secret passageways that her dad had told her about. As she often came away from these searches disappointed, she did it alone, knowing that appearing to know about lots of shortcuts would seem much more impressive than a long, slow search. This past day, she'd been attempting to find hidden doors in a seemingly useless room. She was so engrossed in this activity that she completely failed to notice another presence in the room, until it cackled loudly.

Spinning around, Rose cursed under her breath. As of yet, she'd been lucky enough to avoid Peeves the bothersome poltergeist, but she vividly remembered Sally Jenkins coming into potions covered in chewing gum and ink. Ever since then, she had done her best to avoid him. Sticky and dripping really wasn't a good look. But it seemed her number was up, and she was trying desperately to remember any spell that would come in handy when a door, hidden behind the portrait of a beautiful witch, swung open and a tousle haired boy walked into the room. He froze, looking confused, and Rose realised how ridiculous the scene must look: her lying on the floor (she had been examining the base of a suit of armour before the interruption) with her wand drawn and Peeves cackling above her holding what looked like water balloons. The boy wasted no time though, and Rose was impressed: after assessing the situation instantly, he cast a freezing hex at the ghoul, who was immediately immobilized in the act of hurling one of his missiles. Rose smiled gratefully, and raced for the door, which the boy closed behind her, trapping Peeves inside.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush. Now that she looked at her rescuer more closely, she realised that she'd seen him before, hanging around the Slytherin common room. "You're in Slytherin, right?"

"Hufflepuff, actually." he replied, smiling brightly. "But my sister is in Slytherin. A fifth year."

"Oh, I see. What year are you in?"

"Fourth. And you're in first, I remember your sorting. You're the one that fainted, right?"

Rose blushed. So far, almost everyone she'd spoken to had thought of her like that- 'the one who fainted'. It was totally embarrassing, almost as bad as being the Weasley that got sorted into Slytherin. That got mentioned a lot too.

"You're the Slytherin Weasley." The boy added.

_Bingo_ thought Rose.  
"Uh, yeah, I guess so. Most people call me Rose instead though. And who are you?" The boy grinned a little at her comment and bowed jokily. "Christian Moore-Bailey at your service. I'm sorry if I bugged you with my Slytherin comment. I know how it feels. My entire family were Slytherin, so you can imagine what it was like when I became a Hufflepuff. My parents went mad. Yours did too, I suppose?"  
"Actually, less than you'd expect. Of course, I haven't seen them since I've been sorted, but the letters they sent were fairly calm. Just warning me not to become a dark witch." She snorted, amused as always at the thought of that. "As if. I was as shocked as they were! Hence, you know, the fainting…"

Christian grinned at Rose, and they began walking down the corridor. The sound of Peeves struggling to break the charm faded.

"So how are you enjoying Hogwarts? Settling down ok?"  
"Yeah, not bad. I mean, it's totally different to home, but most people are dead nice, and I've made a ton of friends."

"There room for one more?" Christian grinned a little nervously, "You seem like a fun person to be around. Besides," he added, winking "maybe you'll give me an invite to see the famous Harry Potter. He's you're uncle, or something like that right?"

Rose laughed. When most people asked about her uncle, she got annoyed, or paranoid that they were using her. However, she considered herself to be a fair judge of character, and Christian seemed like a genuinely friendly boy.  
"Sure. On one condition, though. I've spent all morning looking for a secret passageway in that room, and you obviously know where it is; that's how you came in. Would you show me how to use it?"

"If you want. I know a few more too, I can show you them now if you like."

Rose checked her watch, and then shook her head reluctantly.

"I can't." She said, disappointed. "I've got charms in five minutes and you know what Applebee is like when you're late."

"Ouch, tough luck. Well, I'll be in the Slytherin common room at break, so you can find me then.  
"Sounds good to me. Only... don't tell anyone, please. I want to keep it a secret: for now, anyway."

Christian looked a little bewildered, but nodded his agreement. Rose quickly said goodbye, then hurried off to the charms classroom. She arrived five minutes late, just as Professor Applebee called her name out on the register.

"Sorry I'm late, professor!" she panted, trying to catch her breath. She slipped into her seat as the teacher raised a thin black eyebrow.

"And why _are_you late, Miss. Weasley? This is the third time since the start of term."

"Well, Miss, I had to speak to Professor Solly, about my domestics project. I can get a note, if you like..." She half rose from her seat, knowing as she did so that Applebee wouldn't let her waste any more time. It was all too easy, really. Solly wasn't a bad teacher, and an amazing cook, but he was a house elf, and an older one at that, so the odds of him getting a student into trouble outside his class were virtually zero. _Thank gods mum's office ensured that there was an equal opportunity policy_ thought Rose, fervently.

"That won't be necessary, Miss Weasley. Just sit down and unpack your books. Today, we shall be looking at the practical applications of the Hover Charm. .."

"Well that was a useless lesson." huffed Rose, as she, Scorpius and Albus exited the classroom. "I mean, come on. It's _obvious_ how a hover charm should be used: _to make things hover_."

"It was a bit pointless, yeah," agreed Scorpius. "But what do you expect? According to dad, you don't get to learn anything interesting until third year, at least." He halted, and pulled on Rosie's arm until she did the same. Albus, walking a few paces behind them followed suit, looking curious.

"But what I want to know," he added under his breath, as several students walked past looking curious, "is where you _actually _were before class. You were gone during breakfast too, so don't give me that rubbish about talking to Professor Solly, because even you don't care about your marks that much. You're up to something.…" His suspicious, slightly rude words were belied by an innocently curious expression, and Rose felt a pang of guilt at not telling him the truth. _It's not important,_ she convinced herself. _He'll understand when I explain._Still, she couldn't bring herself to lie to him, or Albus for that matter, and so responded with a simple

"None of your business." The moment the words were out of her mouth, she cursed inwardly. Saying that would just fan the flames of their interest, and sure enough, as she resumed walking, Albus jogged beside her, saying

"Ooh, why not? What don't you want us to know? Is it…" -he lowered his voice a little before continuing- "a boy?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" snapped Rose. "Now hurry up, we'll be late for Herbology."

Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw Albus smirk and give Scorpius a meaningful look. _Damn, damn, damn._ They'd never get off her case now. _I wouldn't put it past them to follow me. Nosy gits. Why am I not allowed my secrets?_ However, nobody broached the subject again, and within minutes they were crossing the grounds and filing into the enormous greenhouses.

*#*#

The lesson passed without incident, and they spent a pleasant hour pruning the flitterblooms. It was only because Scorpius was observing Rose more closely than usual –he really wanted to know what she was up to- that he noticed how her foot tapped against the floor. Although he had only known her for a few weeks, it had fast become obvious that it was a sign of her impatience. He raised his eyebrows: she really _was_ up to something. And he wanted to know what. It wasn't that he was nosy (okay that was _one_reason, but not the only one) but he was a little concerned about her. She'd been increasingly secretive, and he wanted to be there for her. Plus, if it wasn't that serious, who knew how many study sessions he could persuade her to give him, if he threatened to tell Al. He suppressed a smile, and glanced at her, almost as exicted as she for the lesson to end.

*#*#

Albus was worried. Rose had a secret and she wasn't telling him. He wasn't foolish enough to think that she told him all of hers, but he liked to think she trusted him, and would talk to him if she needed to. What was more; this had actually been affecting her schooling, since she'd been missing lessons. It wasn't like her: since she'd been old enough to learn, she had worked with a purpose that was almost scary in a kid. Maybe he could follow her… or better yet, get James to. James was experienced at sneaking, a fact that Albus knew from experience. Yeah, that would work… he'd speak to his brother at break, right after Herbology. He frowned in Rose's direction, hoping that she was ok.

*#*#

Rose shivered, as she felt both her cousin and her friend's gazes on her. They really were irritating her. She was eleven, (_twelve in eight days!_pointed out her childish side) and already they expected her to be involved in some dirty affair. But in the end, she couldn't really blame them: she was hiding a secret from them, though it wasn't nearly as interesting as they suspected. All through the lesson, she had been thinking about the secret passages, hoping that by the time Christian had shown her his, she'd have enough that she would be able to come clean with her friends, but still appear fairly impressive. It was more trouble than it was worth, all the secrecy. Rose continued thinking similar things until the bell rang for break. As soon as Neville (it was almost impossible to think of him as Professor Longbottom) dismissed the class, she rushed off to the Slytherin common room to find Christian. Leaving the boys in her wake, she was practically bouncing in excitement.

"Slug club" she said, and the deceptively blank wall slid aside, allowing Rose entry. The room was almost empty, as the bell had rung so early. However, sprawled across a plush green couch lay Christian. Eyes lighting up as she saw him, Rose almost ran to him, eager to be off. The third year yawned, stretched and stood lazily, looking amused as Rose grabbed his arm and dragged him out into the corridor and then away.

They were both so involved, neither saw Scorpius step out from behind a statue and follow them at a safe distance. As he trailed behind them, he was amazed and more than a little angry at what he saw: a Hufflepuff at least three years older than Rose laughing and what appeared to be flirting with a –relatively- innocent first year. He clenched his fist, but followed silently, wanting to wait until there was damning evidence. It didn't take long. Within minutes, the Hufflepuff prick draped his arm over Rose's shoulder and steered her into what appeared to be an empty classroom. Scorpius stared in surprise and, throwing caution to the wind, ran to the door. He quietly attempted to open it, but it was locked. Furious, he walked away. One thought was running through his head: _that dirty pervert will pay._He thought about the best course of action. Well that was obvious. This was far more than an innocent crush, this was…creepy. He'd have to tell Albus. And if that didn't work… well, there was an entire clan of Weasleys who he was sure would want to 'persuade' the boy away.

"You'll regret this…" he muttered grimly.


	6. In which Christian is discovered

Rose and Christian were having the times of their lives, sharing their knowledge of hidden passageways. After Christian (or Chris, as he had asked Rose to call him) had shown her the secret route accessed from the abandoned classroom, they had lain down and sketched a rough copy of the ground floor of Hogwarts, filling in classrooms, corridors and then (in invisible ink- one could never be too careful) all their discoveries. There were surprisingly many, Rose noted. She'd had no idea about over three quarters of Christian's and more surprisingly, considering he'd been in Hogwarts for years, Christian knew only a few of the ones that Rose had discovered. Their task was so engrossing that they almost didn't realise that lunch was over, and class would begin again in five minutes. The bell rang loudly, causing them both to jump, and Chris began packing up their crude map, looking regretful, before Rose had a sudden brainwave.

"Hey, what have you got next?" she asked hopefully.

"Divination. Why?"

"I was wondering if you're averse to a little bit of skiving. Or do you actually like divination?"

"Ugh, of course I don't. You know Parkinson teaches it? I swear she hates me. Mind you, she hates almost everyone, so I guess I shouldn't take it personally."

"Tell me about it. I mean, I'm in her house, but that doesn't stop her docking points for my every single tiny mistake." Rose rolled her eyes, momentarily distracted, but then rallied herself. "So how about it? Are you willing to miss Divination? I mean, I know you Hufflepuff types absolutely hate to break rules, but even so…" She grinned a little, to show she didn't mean it; she knew better than most not to judge by house.

"Hey, Little Miss Slytherin, I resent that! Of course I skive!" Christian gasped in mock outrage and ruffled her hair, making her scowl. "I was just worried about you. A first year shouldn't miss classes, even if they are baby geniuses."

"Okay, I'm _really_ not a baby genius. I'm just lucky. And don't worry about me missing out; it's only flying, and I could do what she's teaching us in my sleep!" This was said with a confidence bordering on arrogance, though Chris knew that she wasn't bragging. She was decent at flying- she was almost a pedigree flyer, although she hadn't made the team this year.

"Well, if you're sure… I guess I could show you that passage I told you about on the first floor. It's pretty hard to open. After that, maybe we could start a map of that floor? It'd be good to have it written down."

"Its settled then." said Rose determinedly." She checked her watch and raised her eyebrows. "Good job too. We're almost ten minutes late as it is! Anyway, shall we be off? It shouldn't be too risky; all the teachers are in class."

With that, the pair hurried off to the first floor where they spent a few moments examining one of the passages hidden behind a mirror. As soon as Rose was confident that she could remember how to work it, they were on the move again, finding another deserted room and beginning another map. While they drew, they chatted about their lives before Hogwarts, and their friends.

"Well obviously" said Rose, her brow furrowed in concentration, "I'm friends with Al. He's my cousin after all. But it's a bit hard, since he's in Gryffindor because we only have Herbology, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts together. Then there's Scorpius Malfoy. You've probably seen him around the Slytherin common room. Blonde, pale, extremely weedy?"  
"Oh, I know the one you mean. A Malfoy, eh? Interesting choice in friends you have there. I bet your parents were ecstatic."  
"Dad was livid. He wrote this letter filled with dire warnings and stuff, but mum made him vanish it and start again. Idiots, they forgot I bought a revealer in Flourish and Blotts. What about you though? I mostly see you with your sister. "

"Yeah, I'm kind of a loner I guess. My sister's really great though. She's only nine months older, so it's almost as if we're twins. She has her own friends in Slytherin, but always makes time for me. I lost a lot of friends when I admitted my uncle was in the battle of Hogwarts (the wrong side, obviously), and that my entire family has been in Slytherin for generations. Whoever said that Hufflepuffs are all sweet and forgiving clearly never met my roommates. Oh, they're not abusive," he said, in answer to Rose's questioning stare, "They just ignore me. It could be worse I guess, but it sure isn't fun. That's why I'm in Slytherin so much."

"That's awful!" said Rose, shocked. "I know what you mean though: when I was on the Hogwarts express, a bunch of Gryfindorks were bullying Scorpius, pushing him into our cabin, and calling him names. Sadly, James joined in. He's such a loser"

"James Potter? I think he's nice! I mean, he goes to the same remedial potions class as me, and we're partners. It's pretty cool; he's so bad he makes me feel good about my own sorry lack of talent. Not good enough to stop me from accidently melting my cauldron, but still…"

As he finished talking Chris suddenly noticed a large grin spreading across Rose's face.  
"James is in remedial potions? No way! I wonder if Harry and Ginny know…"

"They will do. Hogwarts sends out a letter as soon as you get put in remedial class. I got a right bollocking from my parents. Ah well. "

"My parents would _kill_ me if I got put in remedial. They expect me to get all Es and Os. That's what mum got, and people say I take after her."

"Well you won't manage it if you keep missing class. What have you got next?"  
"Transfiguration. But it's not for…Oh sugar, it's now! I swear the bell didn't go! Did you hear it? Look, I have to go, and I guess you do too. I'll see you later, and we can work on the maps."

"Can't wait. Now hurry up. I don't want to be responsible for your very first detention."

Rose grinned at his naivety – tenth detention would be closer to the mark- but she ran off without correcting him.

She dropped into her seat moments before Professor Gifford entered the room. As he called register, Scorpius leant over and whispered loudly:  
"Where were you during flying?"

Rose smiled serenely.  
"That's none of your business. But I'll tell you one thing; it was much more fun than the beginner lessons Hooch gives us."

Scorpius' eyebrows raised and he seemed about to reply when the teacher called everyone to silence.

"Today class, we'll be turning matchsticks into needles…"

Rose rolled her eyes. Her mother had shown her to do that in June which meant another class where she'd be staring at the blackboard. After a disastrous attempt at a new spell during her third transfiguration lesson, she had been banned from experimenting in class, something she found extremely unfair since there were no long-term effects: after a quick draught from Madam Pomfrey, her skin had returned to its normal colour almost immediately.

She tuned out the teacher's voice and relaxed, wondering whether Gifford would notice her if she practised spells under the table, when Scorpius whispered in her ear.

"I saw you with that Hufflepuff kid, Moore-Bailey before lunch. I suppose you were with him instead of at class?" He held his breath as he awaited Rose's answer, hoping that it was all a big misunderstanding.

"I was, now you mention it." She raised her eyebrows looking a little affronted. "What were you doing, spying on me? I'm allowed to talk to other people you know."

"Yeah, but not fourth years, and you were doing more than talking. Skiving off in cosy little corners of the castle…" muttered Scorpius quietly. Unfortunately for him, Rose heard and was immediately on the defensive, snarling

"It's none of your business what I do with boys, fourth year or not. Keep your nose out, Malfoy. I'll tell you when I'm ready to."

"Oh, last names, is it now _Weasley? _Well let me tell you, I don't care WHAT you get up to with him, just don't come crying to me when it's over."

*#*#

He saw Rose looking mystified, but was far too angry to speak to her. For the rest of the lesson, he concentrated so hard on turning the match into a needle that when Rose was told to collect them in, she stabbed herself on it, and had to bite her lip from crying out.

_Good,_ Thought Scorpius savagely._ I'm worried enough about her that I try and help her, and what does she do? Bite my head off._

As soon as the bell rang, he jumped up and left Rose packing her bags, instead walking swiftly to dinner. Rather than sit at the Slytherin table, he decided to hang around the Gryffindor one and wait for Al. This wouldn't have been so bad, except that as his father had predicted, most of Hogwarts weren't his number one fans. Gryffindor was worst: although it wasn't so bad in class, since he'd have Rose and Al to defend him, he'd experienced plenty of sneaky shoves and kicks in the corridors, and was learning to tune them out. One of the worst offenders, to Albus's dismay, was James, and as luck would have it, James was already at the table shovelling food into his mouth. James almost choked on his pasta when he saw Scorpius and he stormed over, indignation at the Slytherin's presence overwhelming his desire to eat.

"You must have a death wish or something Malfoy, coming to sit at the Gryffindor table. My brother might have forgotten what your dad did, but the rest of us haven't."

"What my father did… that'd be saving your dad's life by keeping Voldemort from a powerful wand? Gosh, I can see why you'd be angry" replied Scorpius sarcastically. "Anyway, sod off, Potter, I'm not here to talk to you. Although… on second thoughts, maybe you should stick around. I'd guess you won't be too happy about what I found out either."

Scorpius could see James's natural hatred of him warring with curiosity. Curiosity won, though barely. James narrowed his eyes and shot him a look that Scorpius interpreted as "If this is some kind of trick or joke, you're gonna wish you were never born". Scorpius didn't need the warning- there was no way he'd talk to James or even go near him if he didn't have a good reason. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes before Albus entered the great hall, whistling and looking generally like his usual cheery self. He stopped dead, however, when he saw James and Scorpius sat next to each other._ Probably_ _wondering why neither of us is dead yet,_ reflected Scorpius

"Albus." He said, nervously. "Listen, there's something you need to hear. It's about Rose. You know that Moore- Bailey boy? He's in Hufflepuff, a fourth year."

"His name rings a bell," said Albus "but I can't picture him. Why?"

"Well, you see-"

"Wait a minute!" interrupted James. "I know him! We take the same…um…potions class."

Albus raised an eyebrow at his brother's blushing face.

"You're in different years! Why would you share a class?"

"It's…um… extracurricular. But that's not the point. Chris is a nice enough guy, what about him?"

"You'll never guess what I saw him doing this lunch time!"

James rolled his eyes. "You really came here, risking life and limb at the hand of my loyal Gryffindors to talk gossip? You're such a pansy! Why the hell should I care what he does?"

Leaning closer and whispering now (because these things had to be done right, to increase the tension), Scorpius dropped the bombshell.

"Would you think it was still his own business if I told you I saw him and Rose together, sneaking off into an abandoned classroom? Her snuggling into him? And then _locking the door_?"

There was dead silence. After a few moments Albus spoke up, his brow furrowed.

"So you're… you're saying that Rose, an eleven year old is fooling about with this Chris bloke who is fourteen?"

"No!" added James, looking vaguely nauseous. "He's not fourteen. He's fifteen. His birthday is on the 5th of September…"

"This is not good."

"Oh well done captain obvious! What are gonna do about it, that's the real question!"

"Are you sure about it?" asked Albus, alarmed. "I mean, maybe you saw it wrong… Have you talked to her?"

"Of course I did! I asked her in Transfiguration. I would have asked in flying, but she skipped that class! She was _with him_! She didn't even deny it. Said something about how it's none of my business what she gets up to with boys. So I thought I'd talk to you, Al."

Albus's normally amiable manner had vanished, replaced by a furious creature with clenched fists and a scowl that looked like it could melt steel. Scorpius thought he actually looked angrier than James who seemed mostly stunned, though there were signs of rage.

"Look, I tell you what I'd suggest. We go down to the common room and talk to Rose. She didn't listen to me, but I'm sure she would to you. If not, we can stage an 'intervention' or something."

Albus and James nodded, looking a little apprehensive- this was going to be an upsetting, difficult and above all LOUD conversation. But it had to be done and so they all left the great hall without finishing their food.

*#*#

The trio arrived in the Slytherin common room quickly and sat down to wait. Though the majority of students were at dinner, there were enough Slytherins left to make James feel rather uncomfortable. This was the first time he'd ever visited the place, and right now he hoped he never had to again. The expressions on the faces of those watching him ranged from contemptuous to downright threatening and nowhere was there a smile. He looked down at his feet and prayed that Rose would hurry up.

It was perhaps unfortunate that the next person through the entry hole was Christian. It was even _more_ unfortunate that hanging on his arm and chattering quickly was Rose. With a roar, James stormed over and yanked Rose away.

"What the **hell** do you think you're doing?" he bellowed at a terrified Christian. "Get your hands off my cousin!" He drew his arm back and punched Christian square in the jaw, the result being a satisfying thud. Chris backed away fast, eyes watering and arms raised to protect himself.

"James!" screamed Rose. "Get off him! What are you doing?"

"Look, keep out of this." snarled James. "I'll be talking to you later!

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing to my brother?" A tall girl had detached herself from a watching group of Slytherins and run over to James. She towered above him by at least a foot and James suddenly realised how badly this could end for him.

"Look," He said in a far more reasonable tone, "No disrespect to you, but keep your nose out. This is between us and him."

The girl drew herself up, disdain etched in every line of her face, and turned to Christian.

"What's he on about, Chris? Have you done anything?"

"No!" Chris was rubbing his jaw painfully, but he looked less scared since his sister had joined the group. "He just came at me, Mallory!" He turned towards James, looking hurt. "For your information, Potter my hands weren't _on_ your sister. I have my faults, but paedophilia isn't one of them."

Scorpius stepped forwards, ready to help James out.

"Yeah, you say that now, but youdidn't seem so sure this lunch time, when I saw you and Rose cosying up. Shacking up in an old classroom? _Classy._"

Christian looked disgusted, and Rose screwed her face up in distaste. Mallory, Chris's sister looked incredulous then began to laugh, causing everyone to stare at her. "Glad you find it funny!" huffed Albus. He'd been trying to keep out of the way of the argument, but there was something so aggravating about the situation, this stranger treating the problem like a joke.

"Right, I can prove once and for all that my brother is not dating your sister."

At these words, everyone's heads swivelled towards Chris, who looked panicked and appeared to be pleading with his sister silently.

"Listen, Chris" she said in a more soothing tone, "which is worse? Think about it. If they think you're into first years, you might even get expelled. It had to happen eventually, you know that."

The others all looked at each other in confusion, though an idea suddenly dawned on Rose. She began to speak, about to blurt it out, but closed her mouth again. Clearly, Christian didn't want anyone to know, and she'd be damned if she was the one to spill his secret. Sneaking glances at the others, she could tell tat none of them had any idea. _Idiots_, she thought. It was so obvious! Meanwhile, Christian seemed to have come to a decision. He looked rather queasy and closed his eyes. After a few moments, he said…

"The reason why I wouldn't date Rose, even if she was old enough is…well… I'm gay."

Silence. After about a minute, James shook himself, and began gabbling rapidly.

"But you can't be gay! We talk about girls all the time in potions! And…and…you're on the quidditch team!"

Even Albus rolled his eyes at that. It was so typically James that he had to muffle a snigger.

"Yeah, well I'm glad to see you don't believe in stereotypes, James. It's totally heart-warming. And I have to point out that no, we don't talk about girls. You talk AT me about girls. I just nod once in a while."

Mallory, looking mischievous, tapped James on the shoulder and said sweetly:

"Actually James, I think my brother took quite a shine to you. If you ever fancy 'batting for the other team', as it were, I'm sure you know where to find him."

The memory of the expression on Jame's face brought tears of laughter to Rose's eyes for weeks afterwards.


	7. Dear Rosie, love from George

Dear Rose,

It's great to hear from you, Angie and I miss you popping into our shop every week. Still, in a few years you'll be

able to go to the Hogsmeade branch so maybe I can see you then for the day.

Amazing news! Ron and I have decided to start up some Weasleys' Wizard Weezes shops in the USA (those

Yankees love a good laugh) so watch this space. Soon your dad will be able to buy you that firebolt 30 you want.

I'm really interested in this exploration of secret passageways. When Fred and I were in school, we did that

ourselves, although we had a little…aid from an outside source. I'd like to tell you more, but won't in case this

letter falls into the wrong (that is to say, teacher's) hands. What I will say is, next Christmas, ask Harry about the

map that I gave him. He'll know what you mean. Good luck.

I have to say, I'm a little disappointed at how fast you made friends with the Malfoy- I was hoping for a few years of

enmity/ pranking first. But I can't have everything my way, I suppose. Your brother sent me an owl himself, telling me

all about your descent into evil, and the horrors that Slytherins commit (you don't _really_ sacrifice muggle children on a

full moon, do you? Ha-ha) But whatever house you're sorted into, just remember you're still a Weasley and we all

love you and care for you. Nobody minds that much, it was just a shock, plus a bit of left over prejudice from the

"good old days".

Lots and lots of love,

Uncle George & Aunt Angelina

XXX XXX

P.S enclosed is some of WWW's finest merchandise including dungbombs, puking pastilles, nosebleed nougat and a

special little product that's not even available to sell yet. (If it starts smoking, just run for it. Seriously, you do not

want to be there when/ if it explodes). Never let it be said we don't give you the best. No charges of course, just direct

the kiddies to our shops. Watch out for Filch, for some reason he's really not a fan of our products. Odd, that…

* * *

so yeah, ta-dah. R&R, or whatever you wish.


	8. Dear Alyssa, I hate you

Dear Alyssa,

First things first, hi, how are you doing? Now that's over with, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP. Seriously, you have no right

to talk about my friends like that, considering you don't know them AT ALL. I don't get it Ally, Rose and Al are really nice

to me (nicer than most "pure families", I'll have you know) so why can't I be their friend! Besides, Rose is a Slytherin just

like me, so I don't get what you can complain about there. Her family are not 'blood traitors', and I bet you don't even

know what that means, you're just copying Grandpa. It's not big and it's not clever. It's lame. I'm 11, and even I know

that! When are you going to grow up, seriously?

Anyway, you'd better get used to it, because I'm going to ask dad if Rose can come over for a few days in the summer. Al

too, if I can manage it. Won't that be fun! Oh, and don't think you can just be rude to them while they're there, because if

you do, I'll make sure you regret it. I have like…7 years of blackmailing material. I wonder whether Dave knows that you

pad your bra? Shall I tell him?

And that's another thing. I mean, Dave Jenkins? Really? He's such a sleaze ball. Did you not hear what happened to Katie

Montgomery when she dated him? And you STILL want to go out with him. Whatever, you're mental.

On that pleasant note, how's the job going? Bored yet? Well you shouldn't have failed your NEWTs, should you. You wouldn't

catch me being a waiter in the Leaky Cauldron. I mean, for gods sake, have some class. And it's not even like you're stupid!

Just idiotic enough to try taking Felix Felicis for ALL your exams. It serves you right for getting caught.

Hate from,

Scorpius

P.S I really don't care if you never speak to me again. In fact that's just added incentive to make me stay friends with them, you hateful hag.


	9. In which 'PAIN' becomes word of the day

_Why the hell am I doing this?_ wondered Rose, as she wriggled under the bed of some fourth year. _Why, of all the cats in the world, did I have to be lumbered with an escape artist?_ Smokey -Rose's grey kitten- had been given to her as a birthday present from Uncle Percy. The little kitten was adorable, but had gotten into the nasty habit of hiding in corners everywhere. This made him very unpopular- it wasn't unusual for Slytherins to be woken up in the middle of the night by a yowling from under the bed. Rose was always running around trying to extricate the cat before anyone noticed. However, as she managed to fit her entire body under the bed and grasp the kitten, the door bounced open and some of the girls who lived in the dorm entered, talking animatedly. Rose froze. She wasn't doing anything wrong, but this was Slytherin house after all, and they didn't have a reputation for being fluffy little bunnies. _How deep is the stereotype,_ pondered Rose, _that even I'm scared of most Slytherins?_ She considered getting out, and explaining herself, but decided against it, as one of the girls mentioned a very familiar name.

"I talked to Malfoy about our...idea. He didn't even listen, just ran off, can you believe it? My great uncle was friends with his grandfather, and apparently the Malfoys have gone downhill since Lucius. Draco was pathetic, and a failure as a death eater, but Scorpius is even worse. I can't imagine why he'd want to be friends with that Weasley girl!"

There was the sound of creaking, and Rose saw a pair of robed legs dangle off the edge of the bed above her. She gulped nervously, wondering how she could escape. As various plans were considered and discarded, another girl spoke up, contempt in every syllable.

"Yeah, I know what you mean Belinda. How can he! His dad must be livid, I know mine would be. _Not_ that he'd ever catch me even talking to her. Blood traitors, they're all the same really."

Rose bit her tongue to prevent herself from speaking out. The narrow-mindedness of these girls was infuriating, but she didn't know how many of them there were, and as fourth years, they'd know far more offensive spells than her.

"I guess you're right," began a third girl, "but I still hoped that he'd show a little bit of interest. He is a Malfoy, after all. But like Belinda said, he didn't show any enthusiasm! He actually said he was going to tell Professor McGonagall. Snitch"

"Well we all knew it was a long shot. But we don't need him. We've got four Slytherins and a Gryffindor who doesn't like Potter hanging around with people in our house."

"Well that just proves it, doesn't it? I mean, even his own people want Albus Potter cursed."

Upon hearing this, Rose tensed, and let slip a gasp that seemed to echo in the dormitory. She froze, petrified, as the girls above her fell silent.

"Did you hear...?" From her limited vantage point, Rose saw the legs in front of her begin to move around the room, the owner searching for the source of the noise. By the sound of it, the other girls had done the same.

"Check under the bed" commanded Belinda lazily. Rose noted with a sense of detachment how the girl seemed to be the leader. _If I have to attack, she's first._ Rose swallowed, and clenched her fists, preparing for what was undoubtedly going to be an unpleasant and painful experience. This seemed to be the final straw for Smokey. As Rose's arms tightened, he wriggled away, and shot out of the dorm, yowling loudly. A girl cursed, and Rose saw her try to stamp on the kitten, which elicited another gasp, though thankfully hidden by the older girl's noise.

"It's that damn cat that belongs to Weasley. We should catch it; hurt it, to teach her a lesson."

"No, we can't do that! I love cats! It's not his fault that its owner is a blood traitor. Belinda, don't be mean!"

Rose was incredibly grateful for the whining girl, as she persuaded the leader to let Smokey alone. _If she'd touched one hair on his head, I'd have jumped out, drawn my wand and... have been cursed into oblivion. _Perhaps not. But on the plus side, Smokey's escape seemed to have convinced the fourth years that they had found the source of the sound. Rose relaxed, ready to wait as long as she had to, until the girls left.

Rose crept out of the dormitory three hours later, checking the stair case before she scuttled down it into the common room and out into the corridors. Her heart raced, and she could feel blood pounding in her ears. In her twelve years of life, and three months at Hogwarts, this was the most terrifying experience of her life. Whenever she had begun to relax, one of the girls would say something to push her brain back into red alert. They had spent a disproportionate amount of time complaining about the falling standards of Slytherin house. Even more time was spent discussing how they were going to 'punish' Al. Their ideas ranged from petty- breaking into his dorm to steal his things, to downright horrific (hitting him with the cruciatus curse seemed to be a popular idea). In the time she had been hidden, Rose managed to place the three voices; Belinda Wilkes (an icy, attractive blonde Slytherin who had always ignored Rose), Maggie Rosier (Belinda's clone and sycophant) and finally, most surprisingly, a mousy girl named Becca, who had spoken to Rose once or twice, and had seemed reasonably friendly. That hurt Rose most of all- to imagine all the hate and loathing that had been simmering behind Becca's pleasant facade.

But that wasn't important. What _was_ important was finding Al as soon as possible. Whilst she'd gleaned a lot from the trio, the time of the planned attack was not one of them, and she had no idea how long she would have to warn him. After Belinda and her friends had left, Rose felt it was wise to wait for a few minutes, in case they were returning or had even planned a trap. Luckily they hadn't, but she was still twitchy as she jogged up the flight of stairs which led to the great hall. Rose scanned the tables, squinting at all the breakfasters, but Albus was most definitely not there. That in itself was an awful sign; there had been only one time when Albus had been late for breakfast, and it had been because he'd worked out how to get into the kitchens directly. This thought sent Rose veering off towards them, passing a steady stream of Hufflepuffs walking in the opposite direction. A few of them gave her odd looks, and Rose was mystified, until she realised that, having started searching for Smokey so early, she'd not changed out her pyjamas. The pyjamas covered in teddy bears. Rose allowed herself a quiet groan, and a moment of self pity before continuing, now conscious of every glance towards her. She was just approaching the enormous portrait of a fruit bowl when she spotted a familiar blonde boy walking in her direction.

"Scorpius!" she yelled, a little shrilly. At the sound of her voice, he looked up immediately and hurried over, looking agonized.

"Rose! Have you seen your..."

"Albus is in trouble, Scor, I heard...

"We need to find him _now_, I think he's in danger...

"There's even a Gryffindor in on the act!"

"I didn't think, I should have...wait, what?"

"I was looking for Smokey, when I overheard Wilkes, Rosier and Becca talking! They said they'd asked you to help them curse and beat up Albus!"

"They did, but I swear, I didn't agree to it! I told them to bugger off, went to tell McGonagall. Then I realised that I didn't know where Al was. So I started looking..."

"I'm looking too! He's not in the great hall. We should check the corridors between here and Gryffindor."

"Should we split up?"

Rose raised her eyes, replying disdainfully

"Don't be stupid! If we find him, and we're on our own, do you think we can help him, if there's trouble? Two first years against at least five older students?"

Scorpius looked wounded, but didn't comment, merely walking away, calling out for Albus. Rose hurried to catch up._ Maybe I was a little hard on him... But really, as if splitting up would help._

The pair ran around the corridors, calling Albus's name loudly. If they had been a little less preoccupied, they might have seen how this might attract attention, and not necessarily the good kind. But they didn't stop to think, and as of yet, there had been no trouble. Rose halted in a seventh floor corridor, hands on knees and breathing hard.

"Look, we still haven't found him. Where haven't we looked?"

Scorpius thought, carefully.

"We missed out the fourth floor, because you thought you saw him up that flight of stairs. Shall we check it out?" he eyed her, dubiously. "If you're up to it, of course."

It took only a few minutes to reach the fourth floor, and Rose pushed the main door open with trepidation. She was afraid of what she would see, yes, but also what she wouldn't find; if Al wasn't there, she was out of ideas. However, as soon as Rose and Scorpius turned the corner, they were met with a horrific scene. Backed into a corner, wand out, was Albus looking terrified. Almost blocking him from sight stood not five, but _seven_ students, and Rose realised that two were Ravenclaws. This was a blow; it meant that only Hufflepuff had refrained from attacking her cousin.

_Oh God, oh god, oh god._ She repeated the phrase like a mantra, frozen in the doorway. However, as a jet of light flew from Belinda's wand, causing Albus to scream, she ran towards the circle and began firing spells at them. Concentrating hard, she barely noticed Scorpius behind her, casting _tarantalegra, _causing the fifth year Slytherin boy in front of her to begin to dance uncontrollably. The look on his face terrified Rose as she turned to deal with the others.

At first, it seemed like the three first years had a chance; Rose managed to cast the leg locker jinx on two students before any of them could react, and Albus, forgoing a wand, punched the shortest one in the face. However, before long, the attackers got over their surprise, and Scorpius was felled by a well aimed _stupify_. Albus quickly followed, dropping to the floor in a full body bind. Rose was alone.

"Give up, Weasley!" called Wilkes, sneering at Rose unpleasantly. "Drop your wand, and maybe we'll let you go."

"Yeah, I _really_ believe you. There's no _way _I'm letting go of my wand. You attacked my cousin, stupefied my best friend _and_ _tried to hurt my cat!" _By the end of her announcement, Rose was shrieking, face screwed up in anger, hair almost bristling with power. It was enough to cause her attackers to back away, and she began screaming spells and swearwords with acrimony. However, the students began advancing again cautiously, and after three were hit by the leg locker curse (the only even vaguely offensive spell Rose knew), they managed to subdue her. She fell heavily, landing on the stone floor painfully. Unable to move, she watched as Maggie Rosier glanced behind her, and then reversed the spells which the first years had cast, until there were, once again seven fighters (although one had the beginnings of a black eye). For what seemed an age, they muttered amongst themselves, occasionally gesturing at their prisoners and often glancing around, presumably to check that nobody was coming. A resolution seemed to have been reached, since two people grabbed Rose roughly by her arms and dragged her from the corridor into a more secluded room. Rose could hear dragging noises behind her; clearly Scorpius and Albus were being given the same treatment. Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw Wilkes reach down and tug Rose's wand out of her unresisting hand.

"So much for not letting go of your wand" sneered the witch unpleasantly. "Now Weasley, I'm going to tell you what we're going to do. First, we'll undo the stunner on Malfoy. Then we're going to give him the full body bind. It's no fun if you can't feel it." Belinda paused, grinning wickedly, and motioned to one of the Ravenclaws who did as she had said.

"Next, we're going to take turns practising our spells on you three. It shouldn't take more than a half hour. If you're lucky, we'll stop there. If not, well... I'm sure Aaron would like to show you three how _real _muggle duelling is done_."_ The boy whom Albus had punched cracked his knuckles, looking excited.

Rose stared straight ahead, horrified. The worst thing about this body lock was that she couldn't see the spells coming, and had no way of preparing herself.

And then it began. If she could have moved, Rose would have been writhing in torment, straining to escape. Curse after curse struck her, as she felt her skin shredded open and seared shut without reprieve. Fire arced, carving into her flesh, and wands flashed, slicing myriad deep lacerations. After a few seconds, it became impossible to distinguish each individual blow, waves of agony rolling over her. The smell of singed, baking flesh reached her nose, and she was finally accorded peace as she passed out. Her last thought, as the pain began to fade, was to wonder about her friends; whether they were already unconscious, or still bearing every excruciating second in silence.

*#*#*

Tanya was in a pretty good mood today. Not only did she have transfiguration (totally her favourite subject; it was so much more interesting than Charms, and Professor Gifford was really nice), but she had a feeling that Albus Potter was _actually _going to ask her out. She'd been dreaming of this moment since the day she'd laid eyes on him. Actually, Tanya had expected Al to ask her at breakfast, but he'd been absent, which really wasn't like him. Besides, after they'd been sorted into the house, he made a point of sitting with her every other day (the rest of the time he spent with his cousin and that ghastly Scorpius Malfoy boy). But Tanya shrugged this off. _Today's the day!_ she thought jubilantly. _I can feel it!_

She arrived at first lesson with minutes to spare, and took to her seat. Not many people were here yet, including Albus, but it wouldn't be long.

She was still waiting, ten minutes into class. To be honest, this was less worrying than his missing breakfast so Tanya wasn't exactly concerned. Sadly, however, this lesson was far less interesting than usual, and it was with relief that she volunteered to fetch the marked homework from Professor Gifford's other class, escaping the boredom of complex transfiguration theory.

She practically bounced along the corridor, as she headed to the fourth floor. The only sound was muffled, emitted from the classrooms to either side of her, and footsteps far ahead.

She wasn't looking where she was going, lost in a dream world, when she tripped over something soft, and landed jarringly on cold stone floor. Grumbling, she got to her feet, and brushed her hair back, pausing as she felt something sticky glide across her head. She lowered her hand, and gazed at horror at the bloody coating, dripping onto the floor. _What the… why?_ Suddenly, an unpleasant thought struck Tanya, and she turned to examine the soft 'lumps' over which she had tripped. They were people, she noticed with revulsion; three of them. And... And the nearest one had black hair, and a pair of mangled glasses, lay next to them, and all three were lying in a huge pool of blood…

Tanya screamed…

And screamed…

And screamed…


	10. Diggledus Trovelace

The first thing Rose noticed was the claustrophobic darkness. Even though she was sure that her eyes were open, there was no light and it felt as if something was covering her face, tight and constricting.

The second thing Rose noticed was pain. From the crown of her head to the soles of her feet, there was very little that didn't ache. Her head pounded, her legs throbbed, and it was all she could do to keep from screaming. As it was, a whimper escaped, and she heard footsteps approaching her. Whatever had been covering her face lifted and through the agonizingly bright light, Rose saw Madam Pomfrey tutting at her and pouring a violently hissing liquid into a mug. Only then did Rose realise that she was in the hospital wing, propped up against some pillows, and covered almost entirely by bandages.

"Now you'll have to swallow this, dear" Madam Pomfrey said, tilting the mug against Rose's lips. It was foul, burning Rose's throat as she swallowed, but she managed to drink the entire concoction and lie back, already exhausted.

"Why..." her voice rasped like sandpaper, and she coughed before beginning again. "Why am I here? What's happened?"

"Oh, you gave the school a fright. Your friends woke up after just a day, but you were much more stubborn. Don't you remember anything about what happened?"

"No! I remember... I remember... getting up early, looking for my cat... then... nothing. Sorry."

"This may come as a bit of a shock to you then. Three days ago, you were found on the fourth floor covered in injuries next to the misters Potter and Malfoy.

"Scorpius and Al were hurt? Are they okay?"

"They're better than you, Miss Weasley, and I'll tell you about what happened if you stop interrupting with your questions. Students, they have no patience these days! Anyway, as I was saying, the student who found you raised the alarm and you were all brought straight here. It seems you were attacked, and whoever did it must have placed a memory charm on you three, since none of you can remember the perpetrators. If it persists, we may have to take you to St. Mungos, for a full restorative treatment, and..."

Rose tuned Madam Pomfrey out, thinking hard. At the back of her mind, something was niggling at her, a small memory that she couldn't quite... No, it was gone. She frowned. Perhaps it was something to do with the attack, something that could catch those responsible. However, before she could ponder the matter, something Madam Pomfrey was saying managed to penetrate her skull.

"...Certain amount of scarring, of course. In these circumstances, it's almost inevitable. But I'll do my best to heal them. In time, they might be almost impossible to see."  
"What? Scarring? Madam Pomfrey, just how badly was I hurt?"

The matron's eyes took on an uncharacteristically sympathetic look, and she picked up a small hand mirror, looking grave.

"Remember, Miss Weasley, it's early on in the healing process, and I hope you will be showing signs of improvement before you..."

She was cut off by Rose's horrified gasp. Thick, angry red lines crisscrossed over her face, some blackened around the edges. She let out a sob. Madam Pomfrey, looking tired, took the mirror away and said, not unkindly,

"Miss Weasley, this is no time for self pity. You are, quite frankly, lucky to be alive. As I have already said, once the wounds heal, we'll be applying various medi-treatments to make the scars go down. You will probably be left with some scars, but by comparison, those will be minor. Now, do you think you're ready for some breakfast?"

Rose nodded without enthusiasm, realising that if what Pomfrey said was true, she couldn't have eaten for three days. Her stomach growled. The matron smiled as she heard this, then walked and away, returning with a plate of dry toast and a mug of tea. Rose practically dived towards the food, as she realised how hungry she really was, and began stuffing herself.

"Not so fast!" said Madam Pomfrey. "You'll make yourself sick if you're not careful."

Rose moderated her pace, and she listened to Madam Pomfrey as she chewed the toast. Apparently, since nobody had been caught or punished, the students were all terrified of being attacked.  
"Can I see Scorpius and Al, Miss?"

"I'm not sure whether you're quite ready yet..."

"Please, Miss? I'll be good, I promise! I'll drink every foul potion you bring me!"

The matron smiled, and raised her hands in surrender.

"Well in that case, how can I refuse? Hang on a moment, I shall fetch them immediately."

She left, and Rose distracted herself by looking in all the other beds. Only one was occupied, by a Ravenclaw boy she didn't really know that well. He nodded to her coolly, then did a quick double take as he took in her scars. Rose sighed, tears rising in her eyes. Is this how it's going to be now? Walking down the corridors being stared at all the time? She was so absorbed by her own misery that she barely noticed three figures approaching, until someone flung their arms around her and said in her ear,

"I'm so glad you're awake Rose! Me and Al were worried sick! We woke up ages ago, we've already been discharged, but you were just lying there. Albus thought you were dead, for a while."  
"Hey, I did not!" objected another familiar voice. "I said she was still enough to be dead. I didn't say that I thought she was dead!"

Rose grinned, and Albus came into view, looking sheepish. He also had some scars, though they were much paler than hers, and seemed to be healing. Scorpius pulled back and Rose saw that his scars were also lighter, less livid.

"How come you guys' scars aren't as bad as mine?" she asked enviously. The pair looked at each other and shrugged.

"Dunno." answered Albus. "But mine looked kind of like yours just yesterday, so don't worry about it too much."

"Ok, you're not a girl Albus, you don't understand… I can't "not worry about it". This is a big deal for me. Girls think scars on guys are sexy. Guys do not think scars on girls are. Trust me on this."

"Some do!" interjected Scorpius, looking a little red.

"Yes, well I was actually only counting normal boys. Therefore you need not apply" was Rose's cutting reply. She paused. "Argh, sorry Scorpius. It's just getting to me, you know?"  
"Yeah, well... do you know who did it Rose?"

"I don't think so. I mean, nobody's name springs to mind."

At this, the boy in the next bed over, who had been listening to their conversation interestedly gave a start, looked shocked. The trio glanced over at him, confused.

"Erm, can we help you?" asked Scorpius, uncertainly. The boy blushed.

"Oh, no… carry on" he said in a plummy tone. "I was just...err..." he tailed off, but Rose had already lost interest, and changed the subject.

"Hey, how are we supposed to catch up on our schoolwork? I don't want to get too far behind!"  
Scorpius and Al exchanged weary glances, used to her attitude to work. She might be a little... 'relaxed' when it came to turning up on time for class, but if there had ever been a lesson that Rose hadn't been amongst the top five in, they didn't know what it was .

"Rose!" said Scorpius. "You've been unconscious for three days! You're seriously injured! How about you take it easy for once?"

"Well I'll be really bored, stuck in here all day. Work will give me something to do!"

"We're not good enough, eh? I think we're being replaced, Scorpius! By homework, no less!"

lbus gave a mock horrified look, and grinned. Rose rolled her eyes at him, but let her head drop back, as she realised how tired she was.

"Guys, can you leave me alone for a bit? I think... I think I need to rest." Her voice was weak, and her eyes gently shut as she felt Scorpius and Albus pat her on the shoulder and walk away. Within seconds, she was asleep.

When Rose woke up, she felt cold goo being rubbed over her face.

"What the..." she managed, before some of the cream got in her mouth, and she began to gag.

"Silly girl, never talk when you're having something applied to your face. You're lucky it's not dangerous to ingest." Madam Pomfrey's brisk tone helped dislodge the last vestiges of sleep from Rose's mind and she sat up, blinking blearily.

"What time is it, Miss?"

"Five O'clock, Miss Weasley. Visiting hours. And you have a few people to see you."

At this, Rose craned her neck, trying to spot who'd come. She saw Albus and Scorpius of course, and a familiar mop of brown hair, indicating Christian had come too. Near the back of the small group was Roxie, looking bored with the entire proceedings. Next to her stood James, his characteristic grin missing, instead a sombre look. She smiled contentedly, but it faded, as she spotted a flash of pink. Surely Tanya hadn't come to see her? Rose hadn't seen much of the girl since sorting, and it had to be said, she was rather glad of this. Nevertheless, there she was, and as they all trouped over, Rose saw Tanya had taken the lead.

"What are you doing here?" she asked rudely. Scorpius sniggered, but stopped, looking guilty as Albus shot him a look.

"Well that's nice!" said Tanya, looking hurt. "After all, it was me that found you. Madam Pomfrey said that if I'd discovered you just ten minutes later, you might be dead!"

Rose had the grace to look a little shamed at this announcement and she flushed before replying.

"Well... sorry then. Thanks Tanya, I guess we all owe you one."

Scorpius and Albus nodded agreement, then stepped aside as Christian pushed past and launched himself at Rose.

"I'm so glad you're ok!" he said, as he clung to Rose tightly. "I tried to visit yesterday but Pomfrey wouldn't let me." He glared at the Matron, and continued. "Ugh, the minute I heard... is it true you can't remember what happened?"

Rose nodded solemnly, and then greeted James and Roxie, who both looked a little pale now they could see her up close.

"Nice goo, huh?" she said, smirking. "I don't know what it's for, but at least it hides the scars."

They all grinned, and began chatting casually, until Albus and Tanya excused themselves, apparently needing the bathroom. They both left as fast as possible without running, and Rose followed their progress, eyebrows raised.

"What's up with them?" she asked, although she thought she had a pretty good idea. Sure enough, she was quickly told by her remaining visitors that Albus and Tanya had just become 'an item'.

"I guess saving your life will do that" she said, a little amused at the pair.

They continued talking for hours about the latest gossip, about classes, about Quidditch, until Madam Pomfrey shooed out her visitors and began to apply the face cream to Rose again.

Madam Pomfrey, what actually is this?" asked Rose, careful to keep her lips as still as possible - no way was she going for a repeat incident with the cream in the mouth.

"It's a healing & fading cream, Miss Weasley… to help reduce scarring"

Upon hearing this, Rose decided to keep stock still, to help Madam Pomfrey. She couldn't wait until her scars faded to look like Al and Scorpius'. Madam Pomfrey soon bustled off and Rose was left alone, bored out of her mind. To make matters worse, the cream itched, and she had to lie on her hands to stop herself from scratching her face.

"I say, Miss Weasley?" The boy in the bed next to her spoke up, making her jump.  
"Can I help you, um...?"

"Diggledus Trovelace, at your service."

Rose stared. Then her face began to quiver, as she bit her lip. In the end, she fell back against the bed, tears of laughter in her eyes, and giggling quietly to herself.

"Your... your name is Diggledus?" she gasped, wiping her eyes. Diggledus Trovelace looked extremely scandalized, as he replied with dignity,

"Yes, it is. I'll have you know that it has been passed down through my family for over eight generations! The Trovelaces are extremely well thought of in the muggle community, which is more than can be said for you."

Rose managed to stop laughing and composed herself.

"Well I'm very sorry, I'm sure" she said in what she considered to be a passable 'posh' accent. "It's simply spiffing to meet you, old bean. And what can I do for you?"

Trovelace blushed bright red, looking affronted. _God_, thought Rose. People are so easily offended. She looked away, disinterested. What a dweeb!

"Fine, I won't tell you then!" he said. "Only I thought you might like to know. I think I may be acquainted with one of your attackers."

She froze. Repeated what he'd said in her mind. Repeated it again. Then hobbled out of bed, across the gap, over to him, and gripped him around the throat.

"Listen to me, Trovelace, or this will end very badly for you. You are going to tell me who it was right now, and then you're going to get Madam Pomfrey and tell her too. After that, Professor McGonagall will be informed, and you better tell her all you know. If you do not, then so help me I will kill you, and I don't care how long I go to Azkaban for."

She released Diggledus, who was gasping for air, and looking terrified. Nevertheless, he spoke up in a croaky whisper, trying to draw the last inch of advantage from the situation.  
"If I tell McGonagall, I want it made clear that I was fully cooperative, and volunteered this information, at personal risk. "

"I tell you what, you don't tell her, and you'll find out about personal risk!" said Rose threateningly.

"Okay, okay! I'll tell you!"

Rose sank back onto her bed, listening intently, praying that Diggledus was right, and not just delusional.

"I share a room with six other Ravenclaw third years, right?"

"And I should care why?"

"Goodness gracious, I'm getting there; don't get your wand in a knot! As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I share a dorm. Anyway, three days ago… that's the day you were attacked, right? I overslept and was just getting out of the shower..." (Rose had to use all her strength to banish the mental image that the sentence conjured) "...when I saw one of my roommates, Daniel Whissock walk into the bathroom. Now, obviously, I was naked, so..." (_Oh dear Merlin, get to the point, please… please… please, _thought Rose desperately) "...I hid behind the shower curtain. He didn't notice me, and I saw him washing what looked suspiciously like blood from his hands. When he left, I got dressed and headed down to the hall for breakfast, where I saw him and that Belinda Wilkes exchange a high five. It was around one hour later that the news of your attack spread. However, by that point, I'd drunk a barrel of butterbeer for a bet, so I ended up in here, very drunk with blood poisoning, and not really up to deductive reasoning. I only just realised what it might mean. Whissock has always been a bit of a prat. Purebloods, you know what they can be like. I guess you could say he was caught, ehem, red handed!" Diggledus gave a fussy little chuckle, but Rose had stopped listening.

_Belinda Wilkes... that fourth year cow? Could it have been her? _The same stubborn memory from earlier, right on the tip of her tongue, was back.

"Belinda, Belinda, Belinda..." Rose whispered herself, eyes shut, trying to visualize the memory. "Belinda... Smokey... under the... under the... under the BED!"

Rose jumped from the bed, so excited, she forgot her injuries. She soon felt them again however, and crumpled to the floor, muttering "Becca... Belinda... Maggie..." Diggledus Trovelace stared, alarmed, and shouted for Madam Pomfrey, who came rushing over, outraged. Trovelace began to tell her what he'd said to Rose, and her expression morphed into one of fear as she hurried out for McGonagall But Rose noticed none of this, still on the floor, still muttering to herself, "Becca... Belinda... Maggie" …


	11. Dear Albus

17/11/2006

Dear Albus,

Your father and I are glad we could see you, even if the circumstances were a little... well, you know. I hope

you're still improving, and the scars are almost gone. Ok, Harry told me to tell you that having a scar on his

face never hurt _his_ chances, but don't listen to him, because that's probably more about the fact that he

defeated Lord Voldemort. You know what those pushy hero types are like. Make no mistake; I WILL hear if you

stop applying the healing cream. I do wish you'd right more often dear, we only just found out ( from Professor

McGonagall) that all your attackers have been expelled, including the one that gave all the names of his

co-attackers. Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. But even so, it'd have been nice to hear it from you!

More good news, if you can believe it! I've been promoted. Your mother is now: 'Senior Quidditch Correspondent'.

Not bad, aye? Of course, this means that I'll be going to see the more important matches, including... (Drum roll

please) the finals to the Quidditch World cup! I'm pretty sure your father will be able to get tickets too, so I think

we'll make a trip of it, just the family. Won't that be fun? (I can see you cringing even from here, young man.)

Your father is at work right now (I'm writing this in between cooking Lilly's tea, and helping her with her homework-

she'll be getting a shock when she gets to Hogwarts, I'll bet.) You don't know how lucky you are to have a domestics

class. We never had that, and I have to work on my culinary skills without expert guidance. When you and James

come home, I'm expecting you to both take turns to do the cooking sometimes. Oh yes, the age of childhood is truly

over.

I hope you're treating Flynn ok, he looked a bit ill last time you sent him. Remember not to give him too many owl treats,

he'll get fat.

Lots of love, Mum

XXX

P.S, give my love to Rose and thank her again for trying to save you from those bullies. Thank that Scorpius Malfoy boy too.

And apologise to him again about what your father said to him when we visited you in hospital. It was just a shock; you know

what he's like.


	12. Dear Albus, love from Harry

Dear Albus,

I know your mother wrote to you just yesterday, but this news cannot wait. I'm afraid it will come as an awful

shock, but it's too important to hide from you. I know that Ron is sending Rose a similar letter, and I hope you

two can find comfort with each other. Your grandma passed away last night, and was found this morning

outside The Burrow. It was your Grandad that found her, and he's staying over here with your mum and I. Nobody

wants him to be alone right now. Before he left though, he noticed some things that seemed suspicious, and

called the law enforcement squad, who confirmed it. I'm sorry to say, but Molly was murdered, and the killer

managed to escape without capture.

For many reasons, (including her Order of Merlin) aurors are in charge of looking for the killer, but since I was so

close to her, I'm not allowed on the team. I'll still be able to find out information though, and if there are any major

updates before Christmas, we'll owl you immediately. Ginny and I made the decision to tell you children everything,

as we think you're old enough and mature enough to handle it, and it would be wrong to lie about something so

devastating.

I know how hard this must be for you, since you were very close to Gran. Your mum and I will be taking you out of

school on Wednesday, and the funeral's going to take place this Saturday. According to her will, Molly wanted all her

children and grandchildren to recite something at the ceremony, so I hope you're willing to say a few words. Of course,

nobody will force you, but it would be a lovely way to send her off.

That brings me to another point: I know you wanted to invite Scorpius Malfoy over for Christmas but that will, obviously,

now be impossible. I'm sorry, but it wouldn't be properly respectful. Maybe we can discuss the Easter holidays, or during

the summer. I know your Gran's death has put everyone a little on edge, but I'd like to warn you again to be wary of him.

Your Gran's death bore all the signs of dark magic, and Draco Malfoy and his parents are among the few Death Eaters that

weren't sentenced to Azkaban. I'm not trying to accuse your friend, but it's I'd never forgive myself if you came to harm

because I didn't tell you to be careful.

Give my love to Rose and the Weasleys, and try not to let the sadness and emotion of your Grandma's death upset you too

much. Although we'll all miss her greatly, she'd lived for a fair few years, and accomplished amazing tasks during them (not

least bringing up your mother).

Missing you more than ever, love always,

Dad

X X X X X X X X X

X X X X


	13. In rememberence: Molly Weasley

Rose trudged across the field, eyes downcast. Although the sky was cloudless, there was a chilling wind and the ground was muddy; evidence of a heavy rainfall the previous day. Every so often, there was a sharp pop as witches and wizards invited to Molly Weasley's funeral apperated. The funeral was going to be small- only around forty people invited- but what they lacked in number, the guests made up for in power and influence. In just five minutes, Rose had walked past Minister of Magic Shacklebolt, Senior advisor to the Minister Slughorn, and of course, Harry Potter. As well as this, several teachers from Hogwarts had turned up; Professor Longbottom, Hagrid, and even MacGonagall. If Rose had been paying more attention, she would probably have freaked out. But she wasn't. She just stared at her boots, eyes red and puffy. Next to her, Hugo was shivering, jogging along to keep up with his older sister. He was clutching her arm tightly, tracing her scars with chubby and sticky fingers. For once Rose didn't mind his clinginess. She didn't mind much anything.

She looked up at a close by crack. A woman in a particularly foul pair of robes strode away, not looking towards Rose or her brother. A short distance from the fashion nightmare, her parents were muttering quietly to each other. Not far behind, Albus stood, looking worried. Rose noted this with a cold detachment, before looking down at her boots again.

Albus watched Rose for a few moments, biting his lip, before rushing over to her and Hugo.

"Hey Rose, how are you?" he asked with trepidation. There was no reply. She didn't look up; just continued walking.

"Rose, are you even listening?" he said, a little crossly this time. Again, no response. Albus opened his mouth to speak once more, but Hugo tugged on his sleeve, and looking upset said,

"There's no point, Al. She hasn't been talking since she got back. Not really. Not even to mummy and daddy!" He looked aghast at this, but continued. "She stays in her room all day. Help her!"

"How can I do that!" said Albus incredulously. However, the sight of Hugo's eyes filling with tears made him relent and he said, "Well, ok. I'll try. You run along and find Lilly or something. She's over by the chairs." He pointed his little sister out to Hugo, and then as the kid rushed off looking grateful, he grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her to a halt. "Listen to me, Rose" he whispered furiously. "Do you have any idea how much you're freaking the hell out of your family? I just overheard your parents, and do you know what they were saying? Do you?" he shook her fiercely, hoping for a response, but was disappointed.

"They were talking about withdrawing you from Hogwarts. Homeschooling. Is that what you want?"

He studied Rose carefully, and was relieved to see her expression change. For the first time in days, Rose's eyes weren't blank. Instead, they were filled with dismay, and she seemed paler than a few moments ago.

"No!" she said desperately. "I have to go back! If I don't, I won't take my exams, and I won't get my OWLs or my Newts..."

"Not only that," added Albus triumphantly, "but you'll probably never see Scorpius again. Or Christian. You'll never get onto the quidditch team, and never find a way to the kitchens."

"They wouldn't do that!" said Rose, though she seemed unsure.

"They would if they thought it was best for you. You think they're happy with the idea? No. But they love you, Rose. And they want you happy again. They're adults, you can't expect them to get it right."

Rose looked at him pleadingly, grabbing his hand and looking distressed.

"You can't let them keep me away! Help me Al!" she said, and her cousin smiled craftily.

"I think I have a plan. This is what you have to do…"

"Mum! Dad!" whispered Rose, urgently. Her parents turned, looking surprised, but extremely pleased.

"What is it darling?" asked Hermione.

"You know how Albus was going to read a poem at the service? Well he's changed his mind; says he doesn't want to. Can I do it instead?"

Hermione nodded quickly at Ron who looked less sure as he knelt down to be on a level with Rose and said,

"I don't know, Rose. We asked you before but you didn't want to. Are you sure you're up to it?"

"Quite sure dad. Weasleys can do anything, remember?" Ron grinned and ruffled Rose's hair.

"That's my girl. I'm so proud of you." He checked his watch, and his eyes widened. "The ceremony is starting in ten minutes, Rosie, so you'd better get used to what you're reading."

As soon as Rose was out of earshot, her parents began whispering excitedly together, gesturing animatedly at their daughter. She watched from a small distance away, then ran back to Albus grinning.

"It worked, I think" she said breathlessly. "They seem pretty happy."

"When have I ever let you down?" asked Albus smugly.

Rose rolled her eyes, smiled at her cousin.

"Thanks" she said quietly, all joking aside.

"It's fine." he replied, suddenly serious. "Listen… if you need to talk, about Grandma, I'm always here." He smiled awkwardly, handed her a sheet of paper, then clapped her on the shoulder and walked off. Rose was left alone staring at a short poem, with tears glittering in her eyes. Blinking them away, she began to learn the lines, and was lost to the world.

"Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down today.

Nothing gold can stay."

Rose walked down from the platform, shaking. As she'd begun the poem, she'd actually thought about the words' meaning, and then how her Gran would feel if she knew how Rose had reacted to her death. The tears had begun to flow again, faster than before, and somehow more real. By the end, the collar of her robe was damp, and it took all her will power to say the final line. But it was done, and she felt that something had changed. Perhaps it was just relief at not falling flat on her face in front of everyone, or maybe it was that she could finally come to terms with what had happened. She didn't know. All she did know was that the world felt more real, and she felt human again, for the first time in days. She leant forwards, paying attention to the speaker; a wizened old witch who was speaking lovingly of Molly, and recounting the tale of how they'd met. It was beautiful, and Rose began to cry once again, wondering if she'd ever be able to stop. But she did, and managed to keep her composure until the end of the funeral when the guests milled around, chatting and chewing. As she saw the loaded plates of food, Rose suddenly realised how hungry she was. She practically ran to the buffet, scooping up sausage rolls and cupcakes onto her plate. As she chewed greedily, she saw a crowd of Weasleys bearing down on her, all open arms and beaming smiles. Within seconds, she had been engulfed, as they hugged her and showered her with praise.

"So delightful…"

"Not a dry eye in the audience!"

"So brave…"

Before long, their words all began to blend together for Rose, and making excuses, she managed to escape the mob. Not far away, Albus stood, looking on amusedly with his brother. She hurried over to them, checking behind her to make sure that none of the various aunts and uncles had decided to follow.

"God, it's mad!" she exclaimed, panting and red in the face. "You'd think I had single-handedly arranged the entire thing, the way you were going on!"

"Awww, is ickle Rosie sick of the attention? I never thought I'd see the day.." said James, causing Rose to scowl at him ferociously.

"You can't talk! You're the biggest attention seeker here! Don't think I didn't notice you eyeing up Fleur's sister! (Which, by the way, is totally gross, as I doubt a twenty-five year old witch –whatever she looks like- would be interested in a fourteen year old, and if she was I'd get the Law Enforcement involved)."

James looked disgruntled, and blushing slightly stomped off to talk to Roxanne and Teddy Lupin, muttering something about immature first years. Albus raised his eyebrows, slightly disgusted at the idea of James trying to flirt with someone over twice his age.

"He wasn't... not Gabrielle?"

"'Fraid so. He was totally checking her out, and I'm sure he wasn't flexing his muscles by accident."

"That is wrong on so many levels..."

Rose nodded, fervently. Not far away, James kept glaring over Roxie's shoulder at her; clearly, his pride was still wounded. She stuck her tongue out at him and turned away, irritated by his posing.

"So what have I...missed?" she asked, hesitantly. Almost instinctively, Albus grasped the fact that she wasn't comfortable talking about the period when she'd been less aware.

"Well... there's been a load of aurors visiting home, plus Mr. Shacklebolt came over a few times. I mean," he qualified, "more than usual. Not just for dinner and stuff."

"And?" demanded Rose, quickly.

"And what?" said Albus, perplexed.

"Well what did they talk about? Who do they think did it!"

"How should I know? You don't think they let me stay, do you? No, I was packed off to bed!"

"And you didn't even try to eavesdrop? Honestly, you're _useless_! Hugo could have done better, and he's _nine!_"

Albus looked a little stung by the accusatory tone in Rose's voice. "That's not fair Rose! It's not right, spying on people. Besides, I didn't see you there trying to find anything out. You were in zombie mode, dead to the world!"

Rose's hand whipped forwards and slapped Albus hard on the cheek. Her eyes were flashing, and she'd flushed a brilliant shade of scarlet. The scars left over from the attack stood out, livid against her skin, and giving her a startling appearance. At that moment, she truly resembled the undead Albus had said she'd been acting like.

"How _dare_ you!" she said icily, voice shaking and outrage suffusing every syllable. "How _dare_ you judge me, Albus Severus Potter? My grandmother has been _murdered_, her killer is still on the loose, and you expect me to function normally? Well I have news for you. I'm not a robot. I cannot carry on regardless of what happens. I'm _human!"_

By the end of her tirade, she'd begun to scream, voice carrying horribly across the field. Guests stopped talking and stared alarmed, as sobbing with rage and pain, Rose stormed away.

As her back was facing him, Rose did not see Albus staring after her looking horrified. She also did not (or perhaps just pretended not to) hear him whisper brokenheartedly,

"So did I, Rose! So did I."

Rose was gone, leaving Albus to feel the weight of everyone's gaze upon him. A single tear trickled down his cheek, and he sank down onto the ground, head resting on his arms.


	14. Cruciatus? Give me death anyday!

It had taken hours; hours of begging, pointless arguments and tears. But in the end, Rose got her way. She would return to Hogwarts for Christmas Day and no later. In the end, she'd managed to persuade her parents that no, screaming at Albus had not been a result of a mental breakdown, merely a combination of sadness and frustration (topped off by Albus being an insensitive jerk- like that was hard to believe). And so, Rose found herself compromising: she could return to school with Albus and Roxanne, as long as she stayed inside the house and got a lot of rest in the mean time. This wasn't actually much of an inconvenience; she hadn't seen Albus since the funeral, and she was quite happy to keep it that way. In fact, Rose felt awful about the whole Albus ordeal. She'd really bitten his head off, and he hadn't deserved it (at least not that loudly or publicly). In the days that had followed, she'd drafted and rejected dozens of apology letters, none of them sounding right. In the end, she'd sent a one word mail: _"Sorry.". _So far, no reply. Rose entered her tiny bedroom sighing, locking her door and looking outside to see if there were any owls on the horizon (there weren't). She threw herself onto the bed, almost totally drained of energy. She'd nipped down for a quick snack but Hugo had caught her and dragged her into a long and utterly pointless game of Merlin (really, what was the point of playing when he always threw a fit if someone else won?). It'd had been at least an hour before she managed to make an excuse and escape the tedium. Doubtless, Hugo would work it out soon, but it wasn't as if he'd get through the lock so she should get some peace and quiet, finally. As she slumped against her pillows, a faint crackling noise made her roll over and grab at a white crumpled envelope. Pulling herself up onto her elbows, she slit it open and with only a small twinge of disappointment, recognised Scorpius's handwriting. She hadn't seen him since she'd been in the hospital wing, and the odds where she wouldn't see him for a few more days at least, so they'd been owling back and forth every few days. He seemed to be missing her and Albus, lonely without his best friends at school, but always willing to give Rose tips on the work she'd missed (it wouldn't do to get too far behind). Best of all, he was filling her in on all the gossip, which was mostly about who'd hooked up with who, and who was "dating" who. Tanya becoming a living version of Moaning Myrtle since Albus had left early also seemed to figure highly. At the end, however, there had been a small variation. "_I sent an owl to mum, and she said that if your parents agree, you can come over for a few days in the summer. Wouldn't that be awesome? Please please please say yes! Lots of love, Scorpius X X X"_

Quite frankly, it sounded awesome. Scorpius had shown her pictures of his home, and the fact that it had an outside swimming pool had not escaped her notice. The Malfoys were, it seemed, loaded. Of course, there'd be the awkwardness of Malfoys senior, but...

"Muuuum! Daaad!" she shouted loudly, before pounding down the first flight of stairs to the kitchen where her parents were usually to be found at six in the evening. And yet, not today. She looked around, confused until she remembered that Uncle Harry was over this evening, discussing "business", as they put it. _They must think I'm an idiot! He never came over to discuss business before the..._ _murder._ Rose sighed. Although her parents had promised to keep her informed, this apparently didn't extent to rumours and theories, and since so far nothing could be proved, Rose was left in the dark. Being naturally curious, and full of anger and fear, this really didn't suit Rose. It was up to her to keep up to date, and without much thought she crept downstairs, intent on finding her parents and eavesdropping on their conversation. It wasn't hard. The study door, usually left ajar was shut firmly and the murmur of voices could be heard from within. Rose paused. It wouldn't do to be found out, especially since her parents weren't yet totally convinced that she should return to Hogwarts. Nevertheless, she'd have to risk it. Thinking swiftly, she untied her laces and knelt down before the study door, able to hear every word, yet with a ready excuse if she was discovered. "_Sorry mum, my laces came untied and I didn't want to trip..."_ Rose stifled a grin, knowing that she'd be able to lie her way out of trouble if the need arose. She had practise, after all. She shook her head and began concentrating on discerning the voices from within the study...

"I checked" said Harry, sounding more tired than usual. "He has a cast iron alibi. His wife confirms it, Tom confirms it, and so do half a dozen patrons from the Leaky Cauldron. It seems that Lucius was caring for the children while Draco and his wife had a night out."

That distracted Rose for a moment. Despite Scorpius being her best friend, they'd never really talked about family, especially not his grandfather. She'd almost written Lucius Malfoy out of the picture: imagined him banished by Scorpius's parents. How naive. They said that blood was thicker than water, after all. But even now, it seemed wrong: the sweet, sensitive boy (although far too nosy for his own good) talking with some decrepit old murderer.

"But couldn't it have been Lucius?" asked Rose's father tentatively, jolting Rose back to the present. "I mean, maybe he left the kids alone for a while and disapperated, then came back?"

"Don't be silly, Ron." said Hermione. "You know that one of the conditions of not having to go to Azkaban was that he wasn't allowed a new wand for the rest of his life. ."

"Worse decision they ever made" growled Ron. "If I'd been allowed to decide..."

"Agreed." said Harry fervently. "Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater, in my opinion."

"I don't know." said Hermione, a little viciously. "I think theres a certain amount of justice in the fact that he has to live a practically muggle lifestyle. Hit him where it hurts."

There was a silence for a few moments, until Rose heard her mother clear her throat and speak up again.

"And they're sure that... that the cruciatus curse was used?" Hermione sounded nervous, and Rose could imagine her twisting her hair around her finger: something her mum always did when nervous. "Maybe they just... killed her?" The hope in her mother's voice made Rose wince. She knew that there was a dark area in her parents' past; one they wouldn't tell her about until she was older. And right know, she was wondering if she wanted to know. _How bad must the curse hurt, if death is preferable?_

"I'm sorry, Hermione." came Harry's voice, muffled by the door. Rose stood silently. She didn't want to hear any more. Actually, she was starting to feel slightly nauseous.

Quietly as possible, she ran up the two flights of stairs, until she was safe and secure in her small room again. Rose released a deep, quivering breath and swiped at a few rebellious tears that had begun to trickle down her cheeks. _Grandma Weasley... my Nan... how could anyone do that to her?_ Rose's eyes focused on a worn textbook lying on the bedside table. Within seconds, it was torn at the seam, thrown at the wall with all of Rose's strength. Beside it, a small moving statue of Oliver Wood was looking scared, brandishing its broom at her. Moments later, and with an extremely satisfying crash, it lay in shards, still for once. She cast wildly around, and grabbed at her metal alarm clock, ready to hurl it to join the other victims of her rage, when a small gasp made her freeze and look up. Hugo stood, mouth agape, looking on at the minor wreckage. Rose realised how ridiculous she must look, alarm clock raised above her head.

"R...Rose?" Hugo looked petrified, bless him. He was only nine, and Rose guessed it must be scary to see your older sister go mad and start destroying things. Her arm dropped, and the clock fell harmlessly to the floor. She cleared her throat.

"Yes, Hugo?" she asked, a little ashamed. He was still staring at Rose as if expecting her to start ranting and raving.

"I wanted to... nah. Doesn't matter. I guess you're busy." His meek tone (so unlike the usual shrill squeal) irritated Rose, who felt her temper rise again.

"Out with it pipsqueak!" she said, frustrated. Hugo stopped looking scared. Insults. This was familiar territory. He pouted and opened his mouth, drawing in a deep breath and...

"MUUUUMMMMMMMYY! DAAAADDDDYYY! ROSIE IS CALLING ME NAMES!" In seconds, Rose crossed the room and picked up her squirming brother, her hand over his mouth.

"Shhh!" she whispered quickly, though she ruffled his hair to let him know she wasn't really angry. Much. Listening hard, Rose tried to work out whether her parents had heard Hugo. He had a yell to wake the dead, but three floors of solid stone flooring meant that privacy was usually assured. There was no noise, other than the quiet chuckling of Hugo as he tried to escape. These soon turned into gleeful shrieks as Rose set him down on her bed and started tickling him persistently.

"This'll teach you!" she said, grinning as he chortled loudly. "You know what happens to little boys that tell tales! They get... _tickled to death!_" She started tickling him even harder, until even she was laughing and Hugo had gotten the hiccups. There was a pause as Rose sat back to catch her breath, and Hugo patted Rose clumsily on the head before practically skipping out of the room, leaving a bemused Rose behind. _He never did tell me what he wanted. Adorable little freak. _Suddenly left with nothing to do –no little brothers to annoy, no anger left to fuel her rage driven smashing session- Rose sat at her desk, still. She began to pen a long message to Scorpius, promising him news when they returned, and telling him they'd discuss the summer soon. But that didn't take long, and there were still a few hours to kill before teatime. There had to be something to do...

Well... There was always... Ok. She knew Albus hadn't replied to her last letter (if one word could even be called a letter) but maybe he would now, since she had information. It was worth a try, anyway. She scrawled a quick note, doing her best to avoid giving him any real information, just tantalising hints (if she told him everything, he'd have no reason to reply!) and sent it with the family owl Maisy. Now there was nothing left to do but wait.


	15. Dear Rose

To Rose

Ok, I'll talk. I'm not angry anymore. But you'd better not be messing with me. If this is one of your games, I swear on my life that I will never forgive you Rose Shelley Weasley. If this is a lie, we are through and I don't care how many times you beg.

So is this true? If not, tell me now. Don't just go making shit up. I know you're good at it, but I _will_ know, and I'll never talk to you again.

Spill. What did you hear? What do you know? And can we do anything about it?

Write back soon.

Albus

* * *

Dear Rose,

I'm glad Albus is talking to you again. We're mailing each other of course, and he mentioned it. He probably didn't tell you but I know he was really sad about ignoring you. But really, you shouldn't have humiliated him in public like that. It's not his fault he's a Gryffindor. And I know that your grandma had just died, but Mrs. Weasley was his grandmother too, and he took the loss just has hard as you. He just showed it differently.

Albus mentioned that you have news about the case. When you get back, will you tell me? I mean, I know I'm not family, but you can trust me. I'll take your secrets to the grave, I swear. I just want to help. Maybe we can work something out and find the killer. I know we're just 11, but think about what your relatives did by then. Mr. Potter had already defeated he who must not be named _twice_. We can do this, I know we can.

I can't wait to find out if you can come over in the summer. You'll love the house, I just know it. It's got a library full of the kind of crap you like to read. All dusty historical tomes and stuff. Dad wants to meet you too, I think. Not that he'd say it, but he's curious about you. Wonders why I won't shut up about you. Or Albus.

Umm…anyway, yeah, it'd be great if you can make it. Plead with your parents, seriously.

You'll never guess what's happened at school! Professor Longbottom is engaged! _I know!_ I find it totally creepy, and I bet you will too, because lets face it, he's OLD. But it's to this woman called Hannah Abbott. She sounds kind of familiar, and I'm pretty sure that she went to school with dad because when I told him in an owl, he said he wasn't surprised that "Neville" (wow, it feels so odd to call Prof. Longbottom by his first name. Uber weird) ended up with a Hufflepuff But he didn't mean it badly. I think. Since he was in the order and everything, I guess you and your family will be invited to the wedding. Ha ha ha. I really don't envy you. Stuck at some crumbly old wedding? No thanks! I hope you have fun anyway though. Save me a piece of cake! I don't really go to weddings myself. Not like dad gets many invites what with his past, and those he does are all former death eaters, so we don't go. I wonder what a death eater wedding is like… blood rituals or something. Eww.

I have to go soon because I'm writing this in Transfiguration, when I'm supposed to be taking notes and Professor Gifford is giving me some really suspicious looks. We're studying how to turn boxes into… different boxes! Made of wood! Fun, I don't think. You'd totally be acing this if you were here, but since you're not, I'm doing well for once. Or I would be if I weren't writing this. Oh, wait, he's stopped talking…I should probably put this away now…

**Miss Weasley, this is Professor Gifford. I understand that you are absent and must therefore be filled in on the castle 'gossip', but I hardly think that this is the time for Mr. Malfoy to be discussing your holiday plans **_**or**_** Professor Longbottom's engagement. Rest assured, Mr. Malfoy will be serving detention for this. I'm taking this opportunity to attach your transfiguration homework. It must be completed before the start of next term. Kindly ask Mr. Malfoy not to disrupt class in this manor again.**

**Professor Gifford.**

Oh my god, I am so sorry about that Rose. He took it off me, didn't give it back until I'd done three hours detention. I'd write a new letter, but this is actually pretty funny if you think about it. More funny than the detention, anyway (helping to organise the library shelves- ugh)

Lots of love,

Your best friend Scorpius

X X X


	16. Escaped Punishment? Not Bloody Likely

Rose loved the Potters' house. She didn't know why: it wasn't particularly big, and their neighbours had a nasty habit of playing extremely loud music well into the night. And yet, there was a sense of… occasion, almost, as if the overly domestic interior hid something bigger: something exciting. It didn't, she was pretty sure, but the illusion always interested her. Albus's room in particular drew her attention: he'd managed to scavenge a few things from dusty boxes in the attic which contained relics from the Order of the Phoenix. A map, with jewel bright pins stuck in it (what they signified, she didn't know, and nor did Albus), an extremely old photograph showing the members of the first order, from over forty years ago. These were accentuated by the usual decorations: Gryffindor scarves, flags from old quidditch matches. But even these mundane items didn't detract from the overall atmosphere of mystery. And mystery was something that Rose lived for.

"So." she said, sprawling across her cousin's bed.

"So." he repeated, sitting on the floor, back against the door.

"We know that she was tortured." summarised Rose grimly. "And that it wasn't the Malfoys."

"But that was pretty obvious, anyway." interjected Albus. "I mean, out of everyone involved in the war, they've kept the lowest profile. I heard they actually shop in muggle towns, to avoid being seen. Does that sound like the kind of people hell bent on revenge? Nah. They've given up. Besides, it's not like Scorpius's dad was into it in the first place. Not once he worked out what he had to do."

"True…" said Rose, chewing the end of one of her plaits. "I wonder why our parents thought it was them then?"

"History, innit. They knew him when he was a scumbag, and can't let that go. Us, we're young, we can change our minds."

"Right."

"Still not very helpful though, is it. I mean there are tons of death eaters who went missing. People just assumed they were dead, because nothing happened since."

"Al… do you not think we're being a bit ambitious? I mean to say, if your dad and the aurors can't solve it, what makes you think we can?"

Albus ran a hand through his messy hair, looking frustrated.

"We can't just leave it, Rose. She was our gran."

"If she knew what we were considering, she'd have a fit. You know what she was like. Besides, unless you have any bright ideas about how to catch the murderer in the next ten minutes, we're stuck at Hogwarts."

Albus scowled, sulkily avoiding Rose's gaze. She had a point, he had to admit. It was all very well catching killers at the age of 11 when they were after _you_ but for anyone else, a boarding school would pose a pretty much insurmountable problem. However, he was spared from commenting when his father hollered up the stairs to the two of them.

"Rose! Al! Get a move on, everyone else is ready!"

Rose grinned at Albus, who rolled his eyes and hauled himself up. She quickly picked up Smokey the kitten and draped him around her neck then exited the room, dragging her trunk behind her.

Downstairs, pretty much the entire clan had gathered. Roxie, James, and Dominique all carried large trunks like Rose and Al, but even Fred, who had decided to stay at home for the holidays, and the younger kids were there to see them off. The adults stood back a little, chatting with each other and making sure nobody got too raucous.

"Dad, can I go first?" asked Roxanne, her robes immaculate as usual. Rose had travelled by floo only once before, and had gotten horrifically dusty in he process, but somehow she just knew that when Roxanne emerged, she'd be as pristine and neat as when she'd stepped into the fire. Life was annoying like that.

The general consensus was that yes, Roxie should go first as the eldest (after protests from James, six month older than Roxanne, this was revised to most mature) of the children returning to Hogwarts. She stepped quickly up to the fire, threw in the glittering powder and calmly said  
"Hogwarts Castle, Professor McGonagall's office" then walked into the vivid flames. James followed, sulking at the dent to his pride the adults' decision had caused. Rose shot Albus a questioning look who shrugged, and she stepped forwards, clutching a small handful of the floo powder and releasing it into the fire. She watched, transfixed as half of it spiralled upwards, ascending on hot currents of air. It looked stunning, and for that moment, Rose wanted nothing more than to stand there forever, watching the subtle patterns and glimmers. But the spell was soon broken as James gave an impatient cough, and Rose, rolling her eyes, proclaimed the destination and stepped into the fireplace.

When she emerged, the first thing she did was check her appearance in the large mirror opposite the fire. Unlike last time, she had managed to stay at least relatively clean; however some of her hair had escaped their plaits, curling tightly down her back. She sighed. Those plaits had taken her over half and hour, and there they were destroyed by a few seconds worth of travel. Smokey was intrigued by the wisps, batting at them with his paw, and causing Rose to wince on more than one occasion as he missed the hair and clawed at her neck.

A slight clearing of the throat interrupted Rose from her assessment, and she turned to see Professor McGonagall standing to the side, resplendent in amethyst robes, one eyebrow raised. Rose coloured slightly, looking sheepishly at her headmistress.

"Miss Weasley, I understand that your appearance may seem important right now, but please refrain from rectifying it until everyone has returned and you are in your dormitory. The password for your common room, by the way, is 'Elderflower'.

Chastened, Rose thanked the professor and walked out of the office, hurrying down to the dungeons as fast as her heavy trunk would allow. There were few people around to see her, the Christmas holidays having just started. However, those that did see her seemed to either stare at her as she passed, or avoid her gaze. She left a quiet buzzing of voices in her wake, and tears filled her eyes as she realised that they were probably gossiping about her scars. The scars had healed a great deal since the attack, and none were infected, but since she'd left Hogwarts for her grandmother's funeral immediately after being discharged, the majority of students hadn't seen her since the attack. She knew that the ugly red marks might shock or even disgust some students, but it was awful to hear the whispers. The point was truly driven home as she ran into Mallory Moore-Bailey; Christian's brother. The two hadn't seen each other much since the fiasco involving Christian and herself, but the surprise and pity were unmistakable. Mallory blushed and looked away, as Rose stared up at her challengingly. It figured.

Rose ran the rest of the way to her common room, pausing only to gasp the portrait to the stretch of stone wall. As soon as the passage was open, she dashed inside and escaped into her dormitory, where she collapsed on her bed. Yowling, Smokey leapt off her, managing to escape from under Rose seconds before she landed. Rose began to sob. It wasn't just the scars. It was everything. The scars were part of it, yes. But it was the fact that there were people who hated her enough to do that, it was her Grandma, and Albus (although that was the one thing that was working out right now). A small cough interrupted her storm of tears, and she looked up to see Mary Finch, a small, freckly girl who shared Rose's dorm. She didn't really know Mary all that well (truth be told, she didn't know any of her dorm mates that well) but Mary seemed nice enough. She was smart, Rose knew. Her parents were both senior healers at St. Mungos, and everyone could tell that Mary wished to follow in their footsteps.

"What do you want, Mary?" Rose asked dully, her voice muffled by the pillow. She really wasn't in the mood to give an account of the attack, or her grandma's funeral. Both were still big news at Hogwarts, according to Scorpius.

"Oh, I just wanted to know if you were Ok." said Mary, a little shyly. "Plus, um, that Scorpius Malfoy boy is downstairs, wanting to see you. He kept trying to climb the stairs, as I went past, but you know what they're like, so he just kept sliding down. He was swearing quite a lot, really. I think you should probably go and see him…"

Rose smirked into her bed, imagining the scene. It was so like Scorpius.

"Alright then. Thanks for the message." She stood up, feeling a little awkward. "I…um… like your hair, Mary. Have you changed it or something?" The girl smiled and nodded, spinning in a circle to let it swirl around her shoulders.

"Thanks! My older sister did it for me, and gave me a little potion to stop the dye from fading."

"That's great, Mary." muttered Rose, unsure of what else to say. "I'll see you around." She gave an embarrassed smile and left the dormitory, swiping away the last of her tears.

Immediately outside the door, she saw what Mary meant. At the bottom of what was usually the staircase, but had transformed into a smooth and steep slide, was Scorpius Malfoy. Not noticing Rose, he gave a giant leap (for someone only 5"0, anyway) and attempted to scramble up. He was unsuccessful. Very. Sliding three foot back down to the floor, he landed in a crumpled heap, swearing colourfully and Rose was unable to contain her laughter.

"…Let me up you motherfu- Rose? I can't get up! Come down!"

Rose sat at the top of the staircase, and attempted a demure glide down the slippery surface, but collided with Scorpius, the two ending up in an undignified heap of flailing arms and legs. With difficulty, Rose managed to extract herself, and stood up, panting slightly. She hauled Scorpius to his feet, and proceeded to brush herself down, looking very red.

"Why were you trying to get up to my dorm so bad?" she enquired, looking curious.

"Bernie Talbot said he saw you crying. I wanted to know if you were Ok…"

"I am, I'm fine. Talbot must have seen wrong."

"Yeah, not so much Rose. I'm not an idiot. It's pretty obvious that you've been crying." He leant forwards and gave Rose a huge hug, whispering

"So what's up, hmm?"

His gentle tone of voice – so different from the usual excited one-almost set Rose off crying again. Her nose stung as she screwed her eyes up and rocked against Scorpius.

"It's just… girl stuff. It doesn't matter."

Scorpius recoiled slightly, swallowing audibly.

"Maybe you should be telling Madam Pomfrey this, rather than me…"

"Scorpius! Not _that _kind of girls stuff, you daft twit."

He relaxed, still holding onto Rose.

"Oh. Good. What then?"

Rose hesitated, not quite sure whether she wanted to tell anyone this, let alone a _boy_. But she pulled herself together. Scorpius wasn't 'a boy', he was her best friend. (Well, he was a boy too she hoped.)

"Scorpius… you know when you said that some guys find scars on girls sexy? _You were wrong!_" She was unable to keep the tears back anymore, and once again Rose found herself sobbing. However, this time was infinitely more embarrassing, as she found herself in the company of her best friend. Scorpius looked a little panicked, and began to pat Rose on the back frantically.

"Has someone said anything to you? I can beat 'em up if you like…"

She gave a watery smile.

"No offence, Scorpius, but you kind of suck at fighting. _Albus_ could probably do better."

He gave an expression of mock outrage, and a light thwack across the head.

"How dare you! I am strong! I am mighty! And stop changing the subject. Tell me. Has anyone said anything to you? They all seemed to leave me alone…"

"No, not really." Rose sighed. "It's just… I could hear them whispering, you know? And I knew it was about my scars, and how awful they look…"

She began crying harder, wondering how much she could cry before she shrivelled up from water loss.

"Don't be silly, Rose. They don't look awful at all. You don't look awful, that's for sure. You look really… pretty." Scorpius gulped as he said the last few words, and Rose was pretty sure she could feel heat radiating from his face with the force of his embarrassment.

"Thanks." She said, giving a final sniff and puling away from him. "I'm sorry to sort of… unload on you there. It's just getting to me, you know?"

"Yeah, I do. I mean, you were attacked, and then your grandma died… I guess it's all piling up for you."

"Basically. But hey, I have that news to tell you, don't I. The stuff I overheard between mum, dad and Uncle Harry."

"Right, yeah. You want to tell me now? Or shall we wait for Albus?"

Rose pulled a disgusted face.  
"Eww. I'd rather not. Tanya's staying at Hogwarts for Christmas, and I'd hate to walk in on the reunion." Rose and Scorpius shuddered in unison. The thought was almost too horrible to contemplate.

"Just us then." said Scorpius. "I guess Albus already knows, anyway. So tell me. What's been happening…"

*#*#*

"I'm sorry, what?" asked Scorpius angrily. "Your parents thought my _dad_ was behind this? Why the hell would he kill your grandma?"

"Hey, I didn't say _I _thought that. Besides, he did used to be a death eater. If you don't remember, you can always check the big damn tattoo on his arm, that'll remind you."

"Oh right, now we hear what you really think! I told you, he's _changed._ Sure, he _used_ to be a death eater. Dumbledore _used_ to be a wizard supremacist too, and I don't see you checking up on his whereabouts.

"No freaking duh! He's dead! Your father was sent to _kill_ him."

"My dad was forced to, by He Who Must Not Be Named. If he hadn't tried, my entire family would be dead!"

"The Order could have protected them! Your dad was just too cowardly to-"

"Cowardly?_ Cowardly?_ Do you have any idea what my dad went through? While your parents went swanning off, safe in hiding, he was being tortured by the most evil wizard ever known. He tried to save your parent's lives when they got captured, and without him, Potter would never have defeated the Dark Lord. So I'd be careful before you start flinging accusations around."

"Ok, so Draco changed sides. Again. Big surprise. He betrayed the good side when it looked like Voldemort was winning, and came back over when the odds were more even. He even escaped punishment!"

There was silence. The few people still in the common room looked on in a shell shocked silence. Rose and Scorpius were stood barely an inch apart, spitting out their words with all the venom they could muster, and it wasn't surprising that the more squeamish members of Slytherin had gotten away while they still could. It was fully expected that spells would start flying in a few minutes, if not earlier. However, as Rose uttered the last few words, change rippled through the air. There was something big about to happen: everyone could sense it.

"Escaped punishment?" Scorpius's voice was suddenly a whisper, far angrier, and more dangerous sounding than his shriek. "Escaped punishment? Is that what you think? Allow me to disillusion you. Do you know what happened when the ministry found the mark?"

Rose shook her head, cowed into silence.

"They cut it off him. Wait, no, that doesn't give the action justice. They _carved_ the skin off his arm, until every sign of the mark was obliterated, then they _burnt _his arm so it'd never totally heal. Even now, he still has the scar. And you know what the worst thing was?"

Silence.

"They didn't use magic. They did this the muggle way, with knives, and hot steel, and they didn't let him have one iota of magic to deaden the pain. He _felt_ every second of it, and it's left its own mark. Not just there," (He pointed to his arm) "but here, too." (He tapped his head.)

"My dad didn't escape punishment. For him, it hasn't even ended."

Rose was dumbstruck. Pale as a ghost, she gawped at Scorpius, eyes wide, and freckles stark against her skin.

"They didn't…" she whispered.

"Oh yes they did." He replied grimly. "Your precious ministry tortured my dad. All in the name of justice."

"Oh Merlin, Scorps, I'm so sorry. I didn't know, I swear."

The anger drained out of Scorpius's face, leaving a weariness that made seem gaunt and aged. He cradled his head in one hand.

"Yeah, I guess. Listen, Rose. I know you mean well and all, it's just… shut up about things you don't understand."

She nodded, close (once again) to tears, noticing a similar glitter in Scorpius's eyes. Looking away awkwardly, she realised that there were alone in the common room. Everyone else had bolted.

"Well." said Scorpius wryly. "At least they'll have something to talk about other than our scars."


	17. Merry Christmas!

It was Christmas day. Fat flakes of snow drifted past the windows of Hogwarts, though they melted almost as soon as they touched the ground. Deep underground, the Slytherins had no idea what kind of weather the day brought, except that it was incredibly cold. The fires had been left on throughout the night, as the house elves took pity on the young students: it would be cruel to leave them shivering in their beds. The Slytherins had it worst: since their rooms were directly underneath the frigid lake, it wasn't unusual to wake up and find the glass of water you'd left at your bedside had iced over.

Scorpius woke at six in the morning, unable to contain his excitement. In his house, Christmas was always an enormous event; masses of presents, party games, and one of the days that the house elves had free. This meant that Scorpius and his siblings got to make the food, which was fun, though not always successful. Scorpius's parents had done their best to eat charred, inedible turkeys for several years, but in the end they had to ask Dolly the senior house elf to teach the kids at least rudimentary cooking. Mealtime was always followed by a sedate walk around the gardens, and although Scorpius wasn't sure what Christmas would be like in Hogwarts (certainly, there would be no cooking for him to do), he was determined to take Rose and Albus on a short trip across the grounds. But he could think about that later. First, there was the matter of presents to deal with! The only other boy in his dormitory to stay at Hogwarts was still asleep, so he tried to be quiet as he looked around for gifts. It didn't take long. There they were, neatly stacked at the end of his bed, most wrapped up in silvery paper (, although there were definitely less than last year, and presumably they were quite a bit cheaper as well. Both of his parents had decided that since Scorpius had finally 'become a man' (whatever that meant) now he was in formal education, he would be old enough to understand the true value of things, and for that reason they'd limited their spending on him. It was ridiculous, it honestly was. Half the fun of opening a present was knowing its value, seeing what money would buy. But oh well. He'd have to manage. His eyes glinted as he picked up the first one, and set to work opening it…

*#*#*

The first thing Rose thought when she woke up (at nine in the morning) was _'What the hell is that noise?'_. To her right, Susan Carter was jumping up and down, shrieking and holding something out to show Mary, who looked politely interested. It took Rose a moment to work out that yes, it was Christmas, and yes, if she stayed in her dorm, her morning would be full of squealing, but once she did, she wished Susan and Mary a Happy Holiday, and picked up her presents, rushing out into the common room, not wanting to listen to the penetrating cries of delight from her roommates. She hurried over to her favourite sofa and dropped her gifts onto the floor, waving to Scorpius who was just emerging from his dormitory (though he was dressed and carried no presents).

"Merry Christmas Scorpius!" she said, smiling warmly. "Opened your presents, yet?"

"I have, yeah! I woke up like three hours ago, so I've had plenty of time. Thank you, by the way, for the Gobstones set. I haven't been able to play since my old ones broke."

"You're welcome! I hope you like it!"

"Course I do." He smiled, and eyed the pile of presents in front of Rose. "I see you haven't opened any of yours, though."

"Nah, haven't got the chance. I woke up with Susan Carter screaming in my ear, so I came down here to make sure I didn't get deafened." Scorpius grimaced in sympathy: Susan's voice was a well known cause of earache amongst the first years.

"Well open them now then! I wanna see what you got!"

Rose nodded and quickly tore open the bright paper on a large (and squashy) present.

"Oh my god! Dress robes! Look at them, aren't they cool? They're from…" -she checked the discarded paper- "mum and dad! Nice one!"

"Wow, they look great! Are you gonna wear them today?" asked Scorpius, admiringly.

"Probably. I mean, it's not like… well, I won't be getting a Weasley jumper from gran…"  
Rose's eyes began to water but, blinking furiously, she managed to keep herself under control. She cleared her throat. "Sorry about that. Umm, yeah, I think I will wear it."

Scorpius looked at her understandingly, a sad smile on his face.

"Ok then. So… what else have you got?"

And with that, Rose returned to her presents, ignoring her unwelcome thoughts.

*#*#*

It couldn't really be said that Albus woke up early on Christmas day. In fact, it couldn't be said that he woke up at all. From before midnight on Christmas Eve, he was feverishly wrapping gifts for people that would be awake in just a few hours. He'd actually seen the house elves cleaning up the common room and stacking gifts. At three in the morning, he sent his owl Trimble out into the night, laden with gifts for his family at home. But that wasn't the end, not by a long shot. Rose, Scorpius, James, Roxie, Dominique, Professor Longbottom, Professor Hagrid, Tanya… Oh gods, Tanya. He'd never had so much difficulty in looking for a present for someone. According to James (who was apparently an expert on these matters), you couldn't just get a girlfriend any old thing. It was a sure way to lose her if you got her a book or something. No, James said that jewellery was the only option. And so, Albus had found himself sending off for an imitation gold chain pendent. It looked gorgeous in the catalogue, and hadn't cost too much (try buying expensive presents when you only got 5 sickles a week for pocket money). There was one problem. _It hadn't arrived._

He was starting to panic. It was now six in the morning, and he could see no delivery owl on the horizon. Tanya was going to wake up soon, and while he didn't know how she'd react, he was certain it wouldn't be pretty.

_What do I do, what do I do, what do I do…_Already, students were rising, if the creaks above him were anything to go by. Tanya always woke up early (he didn't know how she did it, honestly), and he knew time was running out. So what to do? Pretend that someone else's gift was for her, or face the music? On the one hand, he'd get out of what was sure to be a huge argument, on the other, someone else would be disappointed. No. It wasn't right, dammit: he was a Gryffindor, not some sneaking Slytherin! '_Well, Rose and Scorpius excepted. Kind of.' _

No, there was only one option. He'd have to tell Tanya the truth. Surely she couldn't be _too_ angry at him? I mean, it wasn't as if he'd forgotten to get her anything, it was just delayed in arriving!

He was lost in his glum contemplations of his possible futures, most of which involved bloodshed by Tanya's hand, when (speak of the devil) he saw her emerge, tousle haired and sleepy eyed, from her dorm. He waved in greeting, managing to mask the trepidation he was feeling.

"Albus!" she squealed, bouncing over and giving him a warm hug. "Merry Christmas!"

He smiled tiredly at her, and returned the greeting, noticing how she was carrying an armful of presents. She handed one to him, and watched excitedly as he unwrapped it carefully to reveal a minute bottle (in a way that implied it was incredibly expensive, rather than that she was incredibly broke) of cologne.

Cologne. For an 11 year old. Well, at least Albus knew that he'd made the right choice with jewellery. For some reason, he felt that a bumper box of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes just wouldn't have cut it.

"It's wonderful, Tanya." he said, smiling widely. "Thank you so much!"

"Awww." she giggled. "You're welcome." She stood, expectantly, in silence. Albus took the hint.

"Umm... About your present, Tanya. I have some bad news..."

*#*#

Rose walked down to the great hall with Scorpius, doing her best to look in every reflective surface she passed without his noticing. Needless to say, she failed miserably: within a minute, he'd cottoned on to her scheme of peering intently in the shiny breastplate of every suit of armour they passed.

"You look fine." he reassured her, trying to keep himself from grinning. She gave a guilty start, and attempted to look haughty.

"I know I do. What's your point?"

"That there's no need to check yourself out every five seconds? Your robes look great, and they won't change in the three minutes it takes us to get to lunch. Calm it."

"Easy for you to say" she muttered, but she stopped glancing around furtively, and they walked together with no more delays, until they reached the double doors.

Rose couldn't help gasping. Garlands of holly and ivy were festooned across the hall, almost obscuring the magical ceiling, which made it seem as if the entire meal would be taking place in deep forest. The effect was not helped by the gargantuan evergreens placed in strategic corners and brightened with innumerable decorations. Two of the regular tables had vanished, and students were sitting about in clumps: house loyalty forgotten as they sat with their family and friends. To Rose's surprise, Albus (who was, of course, already in the great hall and scoffing down food) was sitting alone: set apart from other students and as she and Scorpius moved towards him, she spied Tanya at the other table, her back to Albus.

"Why isn't Tanya here? I'd have thought you two would be all over each other." she said curiously, plonking herself down next to him. As Scorpius took a seat opposite him, Albus looked at her, and she was startled to see his eyes were red rimmed.

"Al, have you been crying?" she asked incredulously.

"No!" he said defiantly, though Rose wasn't sure whether she believed him. "Tanya and I had an argument. My present for her didn't arrive and she took that to mean that..." he squinted, brow furrowed, as he tried to recall the exact words. "'I don't value her as a friend or a girlfriend, and until I learn her true value, she's not talking to me.'"

Scorpius looked sympathetic, leaning towards Albus and patting him awkwardly on the shoulder across the table.

"Sorry, mate." he said. "But honestly, if that's how she acts, maybe you're better off without her?"

Rose rolled her eyes, and shuffled away from her cousin as she recognised the warning signs. His hands had curled into fists, and his normally amicable expression was gone, leaving a scowl in its place. Behind his back, she mimed at Scorpius to shut up, who seemed to take the hint, but it was already too late.

"She was my girlfriend! She just broke up with me after two months, and your advice is that I'm better off without her?"  
"Sorry, sorry!" pacified Scorpius hurriedly. "She'll cool down when the present gets here, anyway. It's the necklace you showed me, right?"

"Pendent." said Albus a little coolly. "Yeah, that's the one. I ordered it days ago! It should be here by now!"

"It'll turn up." said Rose, soothingly. She'd been listening to Albus's present woes for days, and knew that he had tried really hard for Tanya, and the fight must be killing him.

"It better do." said Albus through a mouthful of Turkey, and there was a momentary silence between them, broken only by his chewing.

Rose and Scorpius took this as a cue to help themselves, and they filled their plates with some of the most sumptuous food that they'd had the pleasure to lay eyes on.

More than an hour later, groaning slightly, Rose and Albus left the entrance hall (Albus casting a quick look over to Tanya, who didn't seem to notice him) and slowly walked towards the great lake, led by an excited Scorpius. Their breath rose in icy plumes and Rose began to wish she'd brought a hat. Or gloves. Or a coat. Goosebumps peppered her skin, her thin dress robes offering very little protection from the wintry weather. The white ground crunched underfoot, but while the snow looked very pretty, it began to get rather irritating as it leaked into Rose's shoes. The lake itself had almost entirely frozen over (the exception being a large circle in the centre of the pool, where the giant squid occasionally surfaced. Huddled together, the trio watched it from the relative shelter of an old oak, shivering slightly.

"T-there's nothing like a nice walk a-after Christmas d-dinner." said Scorpius cheerfully. This was met with a stony silence from Rose, and complete disinterest from Albus who seemed to be absorbed in his own thoughts. "N-not bad food, was it?" Scorpius added, doing his best to spark a conversation, though Rose heard his teeth chattering. To Rose's slight alarm, his lips were taking on a bluish tinge.

"Um...No. It w-was delicious." she said. There was silence, except for the chattering of teeth. Rose, loathe to admit defeat (even against weather), attempted to withstand the bitter cold, but in the end gave up as she started to lose feeling in her fingers. "Scorpius, I k-know you're keen o-on the idea of fresh air, b-b-but maybe we s-should go back i-inside? I-I'm f-f-freezing." Scorpius nodded his agreement a little disappointed, and they looked over to Albus, who shrugged moodily but followed them back into the castle. Walking a few paces ahead, Rose and Scorpius whispered together, concerned about him.

"What do we do?" asked Rose, checking behind her to make sure Albus was far enough away that he couldn't hear them.

"Just give him time. A boy's first girlfriend is a big deal. Plus, it's Christmas. It's the worst time of the year to be dumped. The only day that's worse is Valentine's Day, trust me on that." (At this, Scorpius winced slightly, but continued) "What we'll do is bring him back to our common room. At least there's no chance of him running into Tanya. We can play with the new Gobstones set you gave me!" Scorpius smiled brightly, confident in his plan and obviously glad of the excuse to play Gobstones. However, Rose looked doubtful, though she decided to take his word for it. What did she know? She'd never dated anyone. She'd never felt the need, to be honest. But she could imagine how awful it must feel, and wondered if it was something that could really be smoothed over by toasting crumpets and playing games in front of the fire.

"It's worth a shot, I suppose" Rose said uncertainly. Glancing over her shoulder again, she noticed that Albus had slowed, falling further and further behind and staring moodily at the floor.

"Come on Al!" she said in a falsely cheery voice, making his head snap up and his eyes focus. Me and Scorp are gonna cheer you up so much that in a few hours you won't even be able to remember Tanya's name...


	18. Dear diary, today I dumped him

**Dear diary, Tanya here...**

It's Christmas. Good food, presents, and hanging out with Andrea and Lu. So why am I not feeling happy?

I'll tell you why. That awful boy Albus (yeah, that's right, my boyfriend) didn't get me a present. I wouldn't even have minded if it had been because he couldn't afford, or didn't know what to get me, but he started making up stupid excuses about mail order owls. Truth is, even if he did get me something (which I doubt) he obviously didn't try very hard to get it on time.

So we've broken up. My choice, of course. I can't believe he did this to me, but it was totally awful seeing him just like... looked at me. When I dumped him, I mean. He didn't even argue, just stood there. He clearly didn't care much about me, anyway. We didn't even do much, just like... hang out. Well, I guess that's really all you can do In Hogwarts. We held hands a lot. Kissed a few times (mainly in front of Rose and Scorpius, to creep them out though Ha ha).

Anyway, enough about him. I'm not going to think about boys, or boyfriends for a while (although Andrew Fairfax is looking rather fine).

No. Bad Tanya. *slaps self*

**For Christmas I got: **

A sleek-hair potion. I really need it.

A dragon. No, not like that. I mean, mum and daddy adopted it for me, so she lives in Scandinavia but I get pictures of her growing up, some of its shed scales, and one of her baby claws when it grows to be about 1 year old. Mum and daddy have to pay for its food and stuff, and dragons eat a LOT, but it's way cool to be able to say that I own a dragon. She's called Honeysuckle and she is an Antipodean Opaleye, and she looks sooo pretty as a baby. Maybe I can go visit her when I'm older...

Chocolate cauldrons. Mmm, my favourite.

12 galleons and 16 sickles from various relatives (not forgetting a measly 6 sickles from Aunt Delilah)

A stuffed owl from Andrew

Some Owl nuts for Twiglet from Aunt May (but I'm not cross at her- she gave me 5 galleons too)

That's all from me. Merry Christmas everyone who reads this

(Incidentally if anyone DOES read this diary without permission, I swear I'll set Alb- um... one of my brothers on you. Over and out.)


	19. Oh spare me your amateur snogging!

Rose watched Scorpius, eyes narrowed, from across their desk. Currently, he was dropping knot grass (and a pinch of sulphur) into their bubbling cauldron, transfixed and delighted as it turned a pale blue.

"So... now I add the armadillo bile, right?" she asked, concentrating fiercely. She was holding a slim glass flask, filled to the brim with a glutinous yellow liquid. As she tilted it over the cauldron, Rose held her breathe, grimacing at the foul smell that wafted from the glass.

"No! Rose, don't you dare!" choked out Scorpius, and he knocked the flask out of her hand, making it shatter on the desk inches from the cauldron. "Did you even read the instructions? It says to add the armadillo bile _at the end!"_

Rose blushed slightly and started to wipe up the stinking mess Scorpius had made, but couldn't resist a slightly lame come back.

"Well if you didn't keep hogging the book, maybe I could get a proper look!"

Scorpius sighed. He'd been over this far too many times before.

"Rose. How many times do I have to tell you? I read the book because I want a passing grade at this. The last time you tried making the potion on your own, you ended up in having to go to the hospital wing. Face it: you're fine with the theoretical, but you suck at practical potions. If you think I'm going to let..."

"Alright, alright" Rose grumbled. "I get the idea. No need to go on about it."

"Are we agreed then? I do the reading, and you add ingredients _under close supervision._"

"Fine. But good luck next time you want me to help you out with your astronomy homework."

"I'll manage. At least parchment can't explode. Now, if you're ready, you can put in exactly three drops of essence hellebore. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I do Scorpius. Thank you so much" said Rose, teeth gritted as she added the ingredient. "Smug git..." she added under her breath, wincing as a cloud of steam poured off the cauldron, and engulfed her. She wafted it away with one hand, and mopped at her red, sweaty face. Scorpius, who stood a few paces away and out of the range of the steamm, smiled encouragingly motioned her away from their cauldron before continuing with the rest of the potion alone.

By the end of the lesson, Rose's hair (normally fairly straight) had turned so bushy that Scorpius (laughing his head off, of course) couldn't resist telling her that her head look like it was on fire. This did not make her happy. Her mood was not improved when she noticed that, even though he had done most of the work, and spent a good part of the hour stooped over the bubbling cauldron, Scorpius's hair had remained perfectly in place and as sleekly golden blonde as ever. She didn't wait for him to clear up, instead rushing off to Charms as soon as the lesson was over.

She wished she hadn't. When Rose arrived, there were only two people already in Charms class; Albus and Tanya. They _had_ made up, eventually. It had been about a week after Christmas when the necklace _finally_ arrived, and another week until Tanya forgave Al (the fact that she forgave him on the same day that the magi-mail company sent Albus a refund and a sincere apology -both of which Albus had given Tanya- was apparently a complete coincidence) . This meant that they were in the gooey stage where they wouldn't stop holding hands, staring into each other's eyes, and kissing. In public. _It's enough to make you sick,_ thought Rose acidly. _If they can break up over something stupid like a late present, how meaningful can their relationship be? I doubt they'll last. And then I'll be able to see Al without his shadow... _Lost for a moment in herhappy contemplations of a Tanya-free Albus, Rose was brought back to Earth suddenly as she was treated to the sight (and, most disgustingly, sound) of Albus and Tanya far closer together than was polite. For once, Tanya wasn't giggling. Sadly, that was because her mouth was otherwise engaged.

Rose felt like throwing up.

Luckily, she restrained herself and slid into her seat instead, for at that moment, Professor Applebee entered the classroom and managed to break the pair apart with a loud cough. They were so used to being caught by now that they didn't even blush.

"What are we doing this lesson Professor?" asked Rose, more out of a need to fill the awkward silence than real curiosity.

"Uh... well, Miss Weasley," replied Professor Applebee, still looking disapprovingly at Tanya and Albus. "The plan is to look at breaking charms, and how the spell can be adapted to fit different situations, such as explosions and more subtle snapping. Then, if we get that work done, we can practise the charm for ten minutes, to be continued tomorrow.

And you two," he added severely, "are far too young for that kind of thing. Potter, I'm sure your father wouldn't approve, and Miss Everdeen, I know that your father would have a fit if he knew what his only daughter was doing. Don't let me catch you again."

At the end of his little speech, he seemed –to Rose's mind, anyway- to take on a pleading quality. Perhaps this meant that she wasn't the only one sick of the frequent tonsil tennis between the two eleven year olds.

"Yes sir." said Albus, rolling his eyes. Tanya nodded her agreement, but also looked rather bored. Rose stifled a small smile. Albus had gone badass! So maybe he was more fun with a girlfriend.

She turned, and realised that while they'd all been talking, most of the rest of the class had entered the room, including Scorpius, who was looking slightly hurt. He avoided her gaze as he sat down next to her, and Rose wished, not for the first time, that he wasn't so bloody sensitive.

"Scorp." she whispered, glancing over at Applebee to make he was occupied. "What's up with you?"

He didn't look up, didn't even move, but Rose stared at him steadily, until he gave up.

"You could have waited." he said quietly.

Rose almost laughed.

"Is that it? You're offended because I didn't wait?"

"I had to pack up on my own. And then Calvin started making fun of me again."

"He didn't! What did he say?"

"Oh the usual." sighed Scorpius unhappily. "Telling me I was the son of a murderer, and that was why nobody liked me."

"That's stupid! Of course people like you! Me and Albus, for one! And let's face it, even James is warming to you know he's worked out you're not about to hold anyone hostage."

"Yeah, well let's say your absence was noted. Or, as Calvin put it, 'Even your little girlfriend is sick of you'".

"That's ridiculous!" said Rose, somehow managing to whisper a shout, and look extremely indignant all at the same time. "I am not your girlfriend!" There was a silence. Scorpius turned to face her slowly, one eyebrow raised.

"That's what you found wrong with that sentence? Not the whole 'getting sick of me' thing?"

"Well that bit was obvious!" Rose scoffed. "That goes without saying, doesn't it?"

"..."

"For Merlin's sake! I didn't mean it like that, you know I didn't. Calvin's just a jealous little boy, who wishes he was smarter than you. Now be quiet, we're actually doing something interesting today."

*#*#

Scorpius's eyebrow stayed raised, but he turned back towards the front and allowed a smile to emerge. After making sure that Rose wouldn't see it of course- there was no point letting her off the hook that easily. He could probably get quite a bit of mileage from the guilt factor

Rose was right, the lesson was good. Scorpius usually loathed charms with a passion –it was his worst subject, and whilst he was still getting pass marks, that wasn't good enough for him, but today they were looking at theory which was much easier. Plus, for once, Scorpius saw the use in adapting a spell. Normally, it was pretty pointless: the differences between levitating a cat or a dog (why had people bothered to test it, that was what Scorpius wanted to know), or what state of matter was easiest to emit from a wand (steam required less concentration than water, which required less concentration than ice...). They were the basics. This, however, was fun. For one thing, they got to see their normally composed teacher blowing stuff up! He wasn't alone in being unable to tear his eyes away, as the front row got treated to a shower of apple and sponge. (Applebee used a shield charm when he was demonstrating with more dangerous stuff, obviously. Scorpius shuddered to think of the number of complaints there would be if anyone's 'little darling' got a splinter in class). Even though the Professor was also demonstrating more subtle (AKA boring) uses of breaking charms, the more... explosive displays made up for it.

He was almost surprised when the bell rang- the hour had flown by.

He was less surprised however, when Rose rushed past him and out the door- he'd be offended (all over again) but at least Rose had actually let him know about this time. All through class, she'd been whispering about how she was meeting with Christian for lunch, for another one of their 'secret sessions'. He'd asked what they had planned (as they had every time- Scorpius still couldn't quite shake off the feeling that Christian was into Rose), but apparently, it was all hush hush, and the only answer he got was Rose telling him to "bog off, you nosy little beggar!" Clearly, there was no point in asking. And the one time he'd tried tailing her had ended... well, badly was an understatement. Rose could be so touchy when she had a secret! Rolling his eyes, Scorpius packed his books away, and waited for Albus before ambling off to lunch…

"Huh, look Scorpius, that's Andrew. I wonder what he's doing here. It's not the normal mail time."

Scorpius shrugged, spooning down warm mushroom soup messily.

"Maybe it didn't make it in time for breakfast and he didn't fancy hanging around with a massive envelope tied to his foot. I mean, it can't be that enjoyable, if you think about it."

Albus gave a small giggle, then coughed and tried to turn it into a manly chuckle. He failed miserably, Scorpius was amused to note. Scorpius watched in interest as Andrew flapped its wings and swooped down onto the table next to Albus (narrowly avoiding a pitcher of lemonade), sticking out his leg to deliver the letter. As soon as Al had removed it, the owl swooped off in the direction of the hospital wing. Scorpius grinned. It was just like Al to get one of the least social owls ever born- while his owl, Galahad, was always good for a stroke or owl treat, Andrew couldn't wait to be shot of his human. No wonder it had only cost 5 sickles: it was obviously defective or something. He continued to slurp up his soup, until he realised that Albus hadn't moved, and was frowning in puzzlement at the envelope.

"Is it not yours, or something?" he asked, not bothering to look up.

"No, it's mine... at least, it's addressed to me."

"Well open it then, don't just look at it."

Albus shook his head, looking puzzled, and wordlessly handed the letter to Scorpius.

"...Huh. I guess we should go and find her."

*#*#

"Rose!" called Albus, jogging to catch up with her. Rose noticed Scorpius lurking further back, looking interested. "I got a letter from home!"

Her gaze snapped back to Al. "That's _great_, Al. Why are you telling me?"

"Look". Albus had reached her now, huffing and puffing, and red in the face. He waved the envelope in front of Rose's face.

"God, Albus, unhealthy much? I think you had a bit too much pudding at lunch!" She grabbed the letter, and scanned the cover. In her Uncle Harry's untidy writing, the words

'Albus Potter, Hogwarts'

Were discernable, followed by

'**Share contents with Rose Weasley'**

In bold. Rose looked up, confusion clouding her face. "He's never said that before. I wonder what's happened? Or why... Oh my God, it's not my parents is it? Al, are Mum and Dad ok?"

"Dunno," he wheezed. "I haven't opened it. But I doubt it. Why'd they address it to me if it was about your parents?"

"I guess..." replied Rose, clearly still troubled. "Can we open it now please?"

Albus nodded, and slit open the envelope with his wand. He extracted the letter, and the pair leaner in to read it.

Rose finished first. She backed away, shaking slightly, and looking pale. Albus was only a few minutes behind, and he screwed the letter up his fist, as glittering tears welled in the corners of his eyes.

"I can't... I can't believe it." He whispered.


	20. Rumour!

"That makes what, two in less than a month?"

"I think so, yeah... Maybe there's a curse?"

"Or one of... you know, them, escaped?"

"Nah, I swear there is no way out now. What with the dementors gone, there are so many charms and spells in place, it has to be impossible. The ministry don't want a repeat of the last war, do they?"

"Maybe whoever did it never got caught!"

"Then why wait? And why go after some old grandma and a reality challenged bimbo?"

"Easy targets, I bet. Besides, they were in the war, weren't they? The older one, you know, Potter's grandma, she actually killed Bellatrix Lestrange."

"No way! How do you know?"

"My mum was there, wasn't she! Saw the whole thing. So it makes sense if you think about it. If you were a pissed off Death Eater, you'd go after members of the Order who are weak."

"Yeah, but that still doesn't explain why the killer waited for like twenty years! Maybe it wasn't a death eater. Maybe someone else has a grudge?"

"Oh come on, who would hate her that much? The entire ministry is looking for them now. It has to be an 'Eater; no one else is crazy enough. Actually, you know what I heard? I heard that it was Lucius Malfoy. My brother's girlfriend learnt from her cousin that the ministry went and had 'a little chat' with him. And why would they do that if they didn't have proof?"

"That doesn't explain the wait, though!"

"Doesn't it? Two deaths in less than two months, just after the children of Potter, Weasleys and Granger get pally with Malfoy. Coincidence? I doubt it..."

Rose shifted slightly on the cold stone bench as the two gossipers drifted away, neither of them having noticed her presence just around the corner, hidden by an ornate stone column. She rolled up her History of Magic homework and stuffed it in her bag with no thought for the wet ink (now smeared across the page). Checking to make sure the students had actually gone, she walked swiftly along the corridor, and up four flights of stairs to Gryffindor tower. There, she stopped. The room was empty except for the portrait of the Fat Lady, and Rose knew from experience that the paintings were useless unless you knew the password. Which Rose didn't. In fact, it seemed to her that the Fat Lady was giving her a smug little smile, and Rose almost felt like pulling out her penknife to give her a fright. She resisted –of course- but the thought put made her grin wickedly, which disconcerted the Fat Lady enough to wipe the smile off her face. Rose sat down in the corner of the room, waiting for someone else who knew the password, and took out a book from her bag, starting to read it by the light of a single guttering torch overhead. Within minutes, she was engrossed- so much in fact, that she didn't notice her cousin sneaking up on her until...

"Boo!" shouted Albus, his face alight with childish glee. Rose jolted back into awareness, knocking her head against the wall painfully as she jumped in shock, and, raising her hand to her heart, glared at her cousin. She rubbed her head gently, wincing slightly.

"Do you _want_ to give me a heart attack or something?" she asked, standing up quickly and brushing dirt from the floor off her clothes, then slipping her book away. "No, don't answer that... Al, I wanted to talk to you."

Her serious expression made Albus pause, and a small frown appeared on his usually happy face.

"What's up, Rose?"

"The rumours are really getting to me" she said quietly, hanging her head slightly. "I mean, as if it weren't bad enough... I heard some kids saying that it was Scorpius' parents. And they said it was our fault."

"Yeah, well what do they know? That's the thing about rumours; there not exactly factual, are they? We know it wasn't the Malfoys. They have proof that they were at a party."

"I know, but what if that makes people start hurting Scorps again?"

"They won't. Everyone's scared of getting expelled like the last lot, and McGonagall isn't dumb; she'll work it out if he's in danger. Besides, there's us to protect him."

"Albus, we're first years! We can't do magic well enough! Or do I need to remind you what happened last time we went up against older kids?"

She pointed to her scarred face, the old slash marks still slightly raised and red against her pale skin. She saw Al wince, and touch his own matching marks.

"Well... we're better prepared now. If we had another go, I think I know where we went wrong."

"We went wrong when we were extremely outnumbered!" Rose snapped, not for the first time wishing that Albus had a firmer grasp of reality. He was like somebody out of a book: actually thinking that nobility of purpose would help you win. Rose was far more realistic. Sure, it was good to have bravery and courage, and a good cause, but far more useful to have five times as many wizards as the other side. Preferably extremely experienced ones, too.

"Merlin, Rose, why so negative? Children can win, you know. I should think that you'd know that just as well as anybody. Think about it. My dad fought Voldemort when he was in our year, and your parents helped. If they can do that, we can handle a few bullies that go after Scorpius."

"Yeah, well... I don't want to test out your theory. And that's another thing. Do we tell him what I heard?"

"Of course." replied Albus, instantly. "He has a right to know if people are talking about him."

"Well, I suppose..." Rose said, doubtfully, running her fingers through her red hair. "But it'd really upset him, you know what he's like."

"I don't care." said Albus, stubbornly. "We have to tell him. It's like lying if we don't."

"Oh it so is not!"

"Is too!"

"Well it's a white lie then. For his own good."

"If you've already decided whether you should tell him or not, why ask?"

"Why ask what?" said a mild voice from behind, making Rose jump once more.

"Scorpius!" Rose said in surprise, her voice much higher than usual. "What are you doing here?" She leant against the wall, doing her best to look casual (though from the sniggers drifting from the fat lady's portrait, she got the impression that she had failed). She was annoyed at how silently he could walk, as if he was gliding. Most of the time it was useful (for example when the trio wanted to spy on people) but it could be a right pain in the arse (when he wanted to spy on _her_).

"I could ask you the same question." he replied, looking amused. "I was looking for you two. So what did you ask?"

"Urm... nothing..." said Al, in a slightly strangled voice, jiggling his leg nervously. Rose rolled her eyes in despair: Albus couldn't lie if his life depended on it. He was so obvious!

Sure enough, Scorpius' gaze turned suspicious and when started to speak again, it was with a far more worried voice.

"What aren't you tell me?" he asked, stepping forwards until he was only a foot or so away from Rose and Al.

"Oh, it's nothing really." said Rose airily, pretending to examine her nails and doing her best to undo the damage Albus had caused. However, to her complete horror, Albus sighed and opened his mouth.

"Well you see, Scorpius..."

"I can't believe you weren't going to tell me!" Scorpius said, sadly. "I thought we were friends."

The three youngsters had entered the Gryffindor tower and seated themselves in the lumpy armchairs furthest from the fire. Although they were pretty uncomfortable -first years never got good seats, much to Rose's disgust- their out of the way location meant that it was unlikely that anyone would eavesdrop.

"We are, Scorpius!" said Rose desperately, leaning towards her friend and looking frustrated. "I didn't want to tell you because I thought it would upset you! And I was right, wasn't I?"

"Well I'd be more happy if you hadn't tried to hide it from me." replied Scorpius, his lip quivering slightly.

"I did want to tell you..." said Albus reproachfully.

"Shut up!" Rose and Scorpius said fiercely, both glaring at Al ferociously. He shrank back, and seemed to think that if Rose and Scorpius wanted to argue, then he'd just keep out of the way. It was, all in all, a wise choice.

By now, Rose and Scorpius had leaned nearer, faces mere centimetres away, and they were speaking feverishly, both trying to get their words out before the other.

"My choice... I heard..."

"If it's about me, I have a right..."

"I didn't know how you'd react!"

"Rose! You have no right to hide it.."

With every word, the two leant closer and closer, until...

The unthinkable happened. Scorpius, gesturing wildly with his hands to further emphasise his point, and Rose leant so close to each other that they collided. Almost in slow motion, Albus saw the two moving towards each other, and for a second their lips met. Their eyes widened in shock, and for a moment, there was complete stillness.

And then the spell broke.

"Urgh!" cried Rose, violently wiping at her lips. "What did you do that for?"

Scorpius looked equally horrified.  
"It wasn't my idea! That was so _gross..._"

"Tell me about it," Rose said mournfully, still rubbing at her mouth. "God, I can't believe I lost my first kiss to... you."

"I assure you, the feeling is mutual." Said Scorpius, fervently.

The two had backed up, standing as far apart as was physically possible without tripping over their chairs. The silence stretched awkwardly, Rose avoiding Scorpius' gaze and blushing bright red. It was broken by an unexpected sound: laughter. Forgotten by the two of them, Albus had tried his hardest not to snigger, but in the end it had gotten too much for him.

"Your faces..." he wheezed, hand against his ribs as he leant back in his chair, his eyes watering from laughing so hard. "I can't believe you too actually kissed! You'd better hope James never finds out!"

Those words were enough to banish the awkwardness, which was immediately replaced with worry. Albus was right; even if James knew it had been an accident, his newfound tolerance for Scorpius would vanish within seconds.

"I uh... I think I should go." mumbled Rose, looking away.

"Yeah, I... yeah. Ok. See you later."

"Course. Coming Albus?"

"Nah, I'm going to stay here for a bit. Tanya's supposed to be meeting me soon!"

Rose rolled her eyes.

"Fine. But promise me you won't tell her; if she finds out, it'll be all around the castle in hours."

Before Albus could respond, she began to walk away, resisting the temptation to press her fingers the spot where Scorpius' lips had touched her. Before she could move three paces however, Scorpius' voice, quiet and suddenly serious, drew her back.

"Hey, Rose... about what happened. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. Again. I know you were close."

"Yeah. Thanks, Scorpius." She replied, her irritation vanishing to be replaced with an expression of solemnity. "It's just hard, you know? Losing someone else, so soon after grandma."

"They'll catch the bastard who did it. They have to."

"I hope so. I miss her so much. It might not always seem like it, but I do."

"I know you do Rose, I know." Scorpius strode quickly over to Rose and gave her a hug, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. Almost inaudibly, she sniffed, and Scorpius suspected that if he looked, he'd see a few tears sliding down her face.

"Thanks, Scorpius." Rose whispered, breathing deeply and pulling away from her friend. She rubbed at her eyes, not quite managing to remove the traces of tears. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the rumours."

"It's ok. You've got a lot on your mind."

"Yeah, I guess I do. I just never really expected that anyone would -or even could- kill Luna Lovegood...


	21. Breaking News

29/01/2011 ~0.0.3

* * *

_**Daily Prophet  
**_

**_Members of the Order murdered!!!  
_**

**_Aurors suspect Death Eater involvement!  
_**

_Exclusive Interview with Ministry insider!  
_

* * *

See our Weekly Wonder Witch (pg. 3)

* * *

Last month, the murder of Molly Weasley (Née Prewett) (79) shocked the nation after she was found dead outside her  
Devon home. As a member of the exclusive 'Order of the Phoenix', she was accorded a thorough examination, which led to the discovery that  
a person or persons (unknown) had performed the cruciatus curse and other spells of torture on her. The perpetrator is still at large, and Aurors  
have connected Mrs. Weasley's death to that of fellow order member, Luna Scamander (35) who was found three days ago by a muggle law  
enforcement officer, also known as 'Please men'. Although non-magical reports showed no sign of foul play, ministry officials confirm that  
her injuries match those of Mrs. Weasley.

Head of Aurors department, Harry Potter declined comment however a ministry insider who wished to remain unnamed claims  
"Nobody knows anything, and the top wizards are baffled. Death Eaters are, of course, the biggest suspects, although there have been no  
escapes from Azkaban that we know about. Potter is not taking part of the investigation, leaving it to his deputy Mr. Quarmby, who is often  
seen popping in and out of Potter's office. In my opinion, this is all a ruse to lull the killer into a false sense of security. It wouldn't be the  
first time." When asked for further details, our source was unable to elaborate, due to fears for his/ her career.

Ms. Scamander's funeral will be taking place in Bosnia, which she had planned in June to visit on a trip to ascertain the  
presence of Heliopaths (fire elementals). Present will be her husband Rolf Scamander, grandson of the famous Newt Scamander  
(author of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', on sale by order form from the Daily Prophet RRP. ~3.4.1), Harry Potter (the Chosen One),  
and Ginny Potter (Hollyhead Harpies).

There will be an increased auror presence around key Order members, as it is suspected that the killer is deliberately  
targeting the most visible possible victims...

* * *

Cont. Page 2


	22. I want to see a room

"_When I meet my Wizard,  
Once he proves his worth,  
Yes when I meet my Wizard,  
He'll be the truest man on Earth"..._

Rose's eyes were closed, and her body swayed to the beat as the sultry voice of Cassie Jones drifted out of the speaker. As her dormitory was completely empty, she had turned up the music as loud as possible, and was so caught up in the music that it wasn't until someone switched it off that she registered that her name was being called.

"Rose... Rose... ROSE, ARE YOU DEAF?"

Rose winced covering her ears, and turned to face Albus.

"God, Albus, no need to shout!" she said, sitting down on her dark green duvet and crossing her legs. "What do you want?"

"I got a note from McGonagall. She says she wants to see us in her office."

Rose narrowed her eyes, trying to remember what she'd been doing recently that would mean a trip to the Head's office. She came up blank.

"Know what it's about?"

"No idea. Not unless she found out that it was you that bribed Professor Solly's daughter to put shampoo in Calvin's domestics project. Then again, that has nothing to do with me; I was a good boy, and just tripped him up instead"

"Oh ha ha ha. Anyway, no way would Dolly rat me out. I give her a sock every week, and that lasts a house elf a long time."

"Oh, ok. Um... are you not running out of socks, then?"

Rose grinned and hitched up her robes, showing Albus one pink sock and one green and orange striped one.

"I am, yeah. What I have to do now is nick dirty socks from the other girls in my dorm and get Dolly to clean them for me."

"Wait, let me get this straight... you are using up all your socks bribing a house elf, so you steal other people's and give them to _the same house elf you are bribing_ to clean? That's stupidly complicated..."

Rose laughed loudly, and dropped her robes.

"I know, right? It's gotten so bad that the others are starting to think we've got some kind of sock eating monster."

"There is! Its name is Rose!"

Playfully, Rose hit Albus on the head and bounced off the bed.

"Don't be silly, Al. Anyway, did Professor M say what time she wants us?"

"Wha... Oh yeah, the note says 6:00 PM, and the password is Mitford. We still have time for dinner."

"Oh, I'm not going. Chris and I are going on a castle search again."

"What, another one? What do you actually do? I don't get it."

"We just... look around, really. It's nothing you'd be interested in, trust me."

"Doesn't sound like I would, no. Give me a game of chess anyday. Know where Scorpius is?"

Rose shrugged, grabbing a pile of loose papers from under the bed. Wise to Albus' tricks, she managed to hide them from his prying eyes and slip them into her leather school bag, which she slung over her shoulder.

"Last I saw, he was thrashing Susan Carter at Gobstones. They'll be nearly finished by now. Anyway, I'm off. Meet you outside Professor McGonagall's office at six."

She walked quickly out of her room, and scanned the common room for Christian. He normally settled down in the corner of the room furthest from the fire and therefore emptiest. He liked the quiet. Today was no exception.

"Hey Chris" Rose said cheerily, snatching the quill from his hand, and pushing what appeared to be homework out of the way. "Ready to go? I've got the maps. Have you found anything new out?"

Chris looked around, but evidently saw nobody nearby and pulled Rose closer to whisper,  
"Actually, I have. I think it's big, too. I got it off Terrence, in the year above me. He told me after I promised to give him tips on how to date his sister."

Rose smirked and pulled Christian up from his chair. Already, she could feel excitement rising; the kind she felt when there was a secret to discover, and she was moments away from the reveal.

"Sounds good. Let's go."

Despite her enthusiasm, she had no choice but to let Christian take the lead, which was a shame as he was (in her opinion, anyway) far too slow.

"Come on, hurry up! We'll never get there at this rate. What floor is it on?"

"Seventh, but slow down! It's not going to disappear if we don't get there in 30 seconds. Besides, I thought you wanted to keep this a secret? You're looking rather conspicuous, you know."

"Ugh, fine. But can you pick up the pace at least a little? I know snails who move faster than you!"

"Are you sure this is the place?"

"Positive. Terrence was very clear: opposite Barnabus the Barmy, seventh floor."

"But it looks just like a wall!"

"That's kind of the point. The meaning of hidden, you know. Not everyone can see it."

"Yeah, very funny. If you're so clever, how do you get in?"

"Well, that's the odd bit. Apparently, you walk past the wall three times, and then 'imagine what you want to see'."

"What do you mean? Like... What I want to see more than anything else in the world is a set of robes from 'the Three Wands' in Paris?"

"No, you moron. How do you think this thing can create robes for you? I asked Terrence, and he said to imagine a room. He used it for... well..." Christian started blushing, his next words mumbled in embarrassment "when he was... entertaining his girlfriend, he'd use the room. But apparently, it can be anything you want. Not just a bedroom, or else I wouldn't have told you."

Rose couldn't keep a grimace off her face- it was well known that Terrence and his ex-girlfriend Tawny had vanished for long periods of time when they were dating. It looked like she'd found out where they went.

"Ugh, that is so gross... Let's think of something other than their bedroom. Umm... Oh! I know!"

She strode along the corridor, turned on her heel, walked back and turned again. All the while, she thought as hard as she could, _I want a room where there are Quidditch supplies._

To her amazement and - judging by the uncharacteristic whoop from behind- Christian's delight, a door appeared at the base of the wall, expanding quickly until it had grown from the size of a mouse hole to at least 10 feet. Almost nervously- this was weird, even for Hogwarts- Rose grasped the handle and turned it softly, peeking into the room as she pushed the door open.

She was stunned. Directly in front of her, an entire wall was covered by a variety of broomsticks, from the old fashioned 'Cleansweeps' to what appeared to be a state of the art 'Lightning 70'. Practically drooling at the gorgeous, sleek brooms, Rose stepped further inside, examining everything else. It was a flyer's utopia. Brightly illuminated by torches on the walls, the room boasted books on flying, books on broomstick care, various waxes, polishes, sprays and potions all designed to create the best and smoothest flying experience. Quidditch robes from what seemed like every team in Britain hung in a wardrobe in one corner. Not only that, but there appeared to be examples of broomsticks from the past; Rose was sure she spotted a 'Silver Arrow', and they'd gone out of business _decades_ ago!

"Wow..." she breathed, stunned by the sheer magnitude of the room. Behind her, Christian had come to a halt, also astonished.

"Terrence wasn't kidding, was he?" he said quietly, and Rose turned to see him drinking in the sight of so much Quidditch gear. _Of course, he is keeper for Hufflepuff. This must be like heaven or something to him._ She thought, before replying,

"Not bad, huh? If Mallory doesn't end up marrying that guy, I swear, we'll never be able to repay him."

"I know. It's amazing! Let's try something else! Another room!"

"Just a minute. I want to look around some more. Actually... tell you what, you go back out and try to make a new room while I'm still in this one. I want to see if it works."

At her suggestion, Christian left the room, and there was silence. Silently, with all the reverence one might expect in a church or temple, Rose examined the rare broomsticks on display. Her fingers lightly brushed against each handle, and felt their weight. All of a sudden, there was a flicker, as if all the lights in the room had gone out, and Rose had a vision of an enormous room (at least twice the size of the one she inhabited) filled with comfortable looking sofas and chairs. After an instant, this image vanished, and Rose was back in the Quidditch store, blinking in confusion. Christian re-entered, looking disappointed.

"Doesn't look like it works with someone in there. Did anything happen?"

"There was this weird flash thing. The image of a huge living room. But it went away."

Christian sighed, and shrugged.

"I guess the room has limits then. Come on, I want to try it again. Empty."

Rolling her eyes, Rose reluctantly left the room, which sealed itself instantly. Within seconds, there was no sign that there had ever been a door.

"So cool..." murmured Christian. "Anyway, I want to choose the room this time."

Without waiting for an answer, he started to walk, muttering quietly. _"I want a room that's like a sweet shop." _Rose looked at the wall expectantly, but... nothing.

"Try again." she ordered, frowning slightly.

Christian did so, but there was no change. They slumped against the tapestry opposite, disappointed.

"Do you think we broke it?"Rose asked, toying with a fraying image of a troll's leg.

"How on earth could we break something so powerful?"

"Listen Chris, you'll learn this soon enough. When I am around, anything is possible. Especially if it involves breaking something." She smirked, looking almost proud of it.

"Nice ego, Rose." grinned Christian. "Right, I'm not giving up. I'll try the room I thought of before."

He stood up, and paced the distance (though Rose couldn't help but notice he was slower, and less enthusiastic), muttering inaudibly. She held her breath, and as the door began once more to expand, expelled it in a whoosh.

"Ok. So that worked. I wonder why the shop didn't..."

"No idea. Perhaps we did something wrong?"

"Hmm, maybe. Do you have a few minutes? I think we need to do some testing..."

"Right, so food is a no-no, the room can't create gold, and sadly, if you try and take something out of the room, it vanishes."

"Right. Although, what you planned to do with a set of gold robes, I have no idea. They were _blinding_."

"Not the point! Focus, Chris. Can you think of anything else we missed?"

"Not that I'm aware. What we need to do is write it down, and if we work out something else, add it to the list."

"That's an idea. Hang on, I have some spare parchment in my... oh SHIT!"

"What, what's up?"

"I can't believe we've been here so long. It's 6:30, we missed dinner. And I'm late for an appointment with Professor McGonagall!"

""blimey... you'd better go. Give us the parchment, I'll write it down."

Rose handed Christian the parchment and ran off, mentally chanting _damn damn damn._ Turning a corner at high speed, she knocked into a group of Hufflepuffs, who fell and shouted angrily after her, limbs entangled. She didn't care, didn't slow, and managed to make it to the Headmistress's office in less than a minute: a new record for her. Panting hard, she gasped the password and ran onto the stairs before they had fully opened. At the of the staircase, she rapped hard on the oak door, praying that Albus was still there. _Alone with McGonagall. Fun- I don't think._

"Come in" said a crisp voice, and the door swung open to show Professor McGonagall, grey hair impeccably neat in her usual bun. To Rose's relief, Albus was sitting down, looking slightly amused.

"Ah, nice of you to join us Miss Weasley." Said the Headmistress, a sharp edge to her voice.

"Sorry Professor- I lost track of time. I came here as soon as I realised."

"Indeed, Miss Weasley. Take a seat, please."

Rose did as she was told, fidgeting uncomfortably on the stiff wooden chair.

"You might be wondering why I invited you here. As I've already explained to your cousin, the school feels that it might be advisable to offer all children of Order of the Phoenix members optional counselling. As you are no doubt aware, there was a great deal of media attention after the deaths of Molly and Luna..."

-At this point, Rose was astonished to see what looked like tears glistening in Professor McGonagall's eyes- "and several members of staff feel that this would be the best way to deal with it. Most students involved were offered one on one sessions, but as you and your cousin are very young, and good friends, it was that shared sessions might be more... advisable."

Rose was astounded. When she'd heard that the Head wanted a meeting, she'd thought... well, she hadn't guessed this. She glanced at Al, who smiled sympathetically, and with more than a little embarrassment.

"I think it's a good idea, Rose. You can't pretend that none of us were affected."  
"I don't know..." mumbled Rose, looking at her feet. "I don't really like the idea. I was just starting to get over it. Won't this just bring everything up again?"

Professor McGonagall looked disappointed, but not surprised.

"Well, if that's what you think, Miss Weasley. Mr. Potter has already agreed, but you can have some more time to think, if you wish."

"I don't need any more time, Professor. I'm sorry, I just don't want to do it. Can I go now?"

As soon as McGonagall nodded, Rose stood up and hurried out the door without a backwards glance at Albus. She wandered along the corridors, head down and feeling sorry for herself. _Just I was starting to... well, not forget. As if I could forget. But just as I was starting to get used to it, they have to bring it up again. It's so stupid: it's not as if most purebloods or halfbloods haven't lost someone from the last battle. Give _them_ a shrink, not me._

Rose was totally absorbed in her thoughts, feeling sorry for herself when for the second time that day, she knocked into someone. This time they didn't shout, instead said,

"Hey, Rosie. Where have you been? I was worried."

Rose looked up to see Scorpius Malfoy in front of her, his grey eyes looking at her concernedly. Whatever he saw when she looked at him didn't seem to reassure, as if anything, he looked even more worried.

"Rose, you're as pale as a ghost! Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" Rose said wearily. "Just had to see McGonagall."

"Al mentioned that, yeah. SO what did she want? Are you in trouble, or what?"

"No. She... she wanted me to see a counsellor. Because of Grandma and Luna."

"No way, really?" Scorpius looked shocked, his eyebrows raised so high that they almost merged with his hair. "What did you say?"

"Well I said no. I just don't think I can go through it. Al agreed though."

"Yeah, I could see him doing that. But where were you before? You weren't at dinner."

At this, Rose perked up slightly, and her eyes regained some of their familiar sparkle.

"Oh yeah! I have something to show you. Follow me..."


	23. Can he be trusted? Really?

"Do you reckon we can trust him?"

"Well yeah we can _trust_ him. We can definitely _trust _him. But does that mean he'll keep quiet? I don't have a clue. You know him better than me."

"He's your cousin!"

"So? I hardly ever see him. Albus isn't sure either, and he's James' _brother_!"

"You know, we wouldn't be having this conversation if you hadn't told Scorpius."

"Ok, ok. I said I was sorry, didn't I? But I was upset, and I wasn't thinking straight. Besides, who would Scorpius tell except for Albus? In case you hadn't noticed, he's not exactly Mr. Popular."

"Well what about Albus? How do you know he won't tell that girl he hangs around with? Can you trust her not to blab?"

"What, Tanya? No chance in hell. She's got more of a gob on her than that stupid cow Amber Royal in fourth year."

"Well then, this isn't going to be a secret for long then, is it?"

"Nah, it will. I made Al promise not to tell."

"You believe him?"

"Hello? He's a _Gryffindor._ Still believes in chivalry and all that rubbish. He won't tell."

"Well… if you're sure. But then James is a Gryffindor too. Surely that means he won't tell either."

"Don't you believe it! Albus is a Gryffindor because he's brave, loyal and chivalrous. James just got in because he's too dumb for any of the other houses. But, I guess it's your choice. I told two people, and so can you. If you want James to be one of them… well, so be it."

"Don't be mean, he's not dumb. Anyway, I do want to tell him. Mallory too, if Terrence hasn't already mentioned it."

"It's going to be so fun! A place where just us lot will hang out. And it'll never get boring, that's the best part."

"I know. It was good of Terrence to tell me, huh?"

"Totally. I think I actually hate him a little less!"

Rose laughed and Chris gave her a rare grin as the two of them argued good naturedly in the library. As far as she could tell, the strict librarian was nowhere to be seen, which was definitely a good thing: if Madam Filch heard that they were doing something even slightly wrong, she'd tip off her husband in a second. Not good. Rose was pretty sure that Filch hated Weasleys and Potters even more than the rest of the students, and that was pretty difficult. Just in case, Rose glanced around, searching for the flashing glasses and eagle eyes that signalled the librarian's presence. Nothing.

She glanced down at the maps on her desk, concealed by a dusty, moisture spotted old book about charms. Even though they had decided -ok, she had decided- that it would be safe to tell a select few about (what she liked to call) the 'wishing room', Chris thought that a certain amount of secrecy was still needed. Rose totally agreed. Obviously, if everyone found out about the passageways, they would no longer be secret. No longer special. She hadn't even told her friends how to get in to the 'wishing room' (that would be plain silly) although they knew where it was and what it did.

"Can we make a trip there now? Please? You can fetch James and blindfold him: give him a surprise."

Christian checked his watch, and bit his lip, frowning slightly.

"Much as I'd love to Rose, lunch is over in a minute, and I have potions next." Seeing Rose's disappointed expression, he gave a sympathetic smile. "What have you got?" he asked, as he began to pack up his books and homework.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Well you can't miss that! It's one of the most useful subjects. Creevey actually knows what he's talking about. Besides, it's almost impossible to get a good job without at least an OWL in it these days. D'you want to be stuck as a shop assistant all your life?"

Rose shuddered. It wasn't that shop assistant was a bad job (in fact, she hoped to get a summer job in Diagon Alley as soon as it was legal) but the weight of her parents', her friends', and even the public's expectations was heavy. James looked like he'd be joining Uncle George in the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes business, Roxanne had the grades to be anything she wanted, and Albus… well, he was Albus. Maybe not as smart as Rose, but twice as hardworking, which meant that he matched or fell slightly below Rose's scores in every test. She had to admit, she didn't try as hard as she could, and she didn't want to be the Weasley that let the family down. Not when they had such high hopes. Of course, there was no way that she could eclipse her parents' careers, and she wouldn't want to: that would mean the rise of a Dark Wizard or Witch greater than even Lord Voldemort. The possibility was too terrifying to even imagine. But still. A career that was at least moderately successful wasn't too much to ask.

"Maybe you're right." Rose said reluctantly. "I highly doubt my future career will hinge on this one lesson, but I probably should go. See you after dinner?"

"Not if I see you first." replied Christian, lips twitching slightly. Rose grinned widely, waved, and walked off to her defence class. The bell hadn't rung, so she relaxed, waving to friends as she passed. Her DADA class was on the opposite side of the castle, so it took her five minutes to arrive, sauntering down the corridors. The bell rang seconds after she sighted the classroom door, and as she entered, she saw that not only was Scorpius the only person in the room, but he'd already unpacked his bag and was reading the textbook. Sneaking up behind him, she bent until her mouth was just behind his ear and whispered,

"Well aren't you the little teachers pet?"

Scorpius seemed to simultaneously freeze and jump into the air, almost falling out of his seat.

"Merlin, Rose, what was that for? You frightened me to death!"

"Sorry" Rose said, smiling as she sat next to him. "I couldn't resist. So what's up?"

Not much. Bored. I hope you and Christian are done with your secret meetings. I have to hang out with Al, which is fine but half the time, Albus is with Tanya, and it is so effing awkward hanging out with both of them. Hence my arriving early." He paused, and gave a sly little smirk. "Well, that and I decided I should probably swot up for the test we have."

"No way! We have a test? When did Creevey tell us?"

"Last week. I _knew_ you weren't listening."

Scorpius enjoyed the panicked look on Rose's face for a few seconds before sliding over a sheaf of parchment. "Here: it's my notes. You read so fast you'll probably be able to finish them before the test starts."

"Thank you _so_ much, Scorpius. I owe you one."

"No problem. It wouldn't do to have you spoil your straight E pass rate. But remember to study, next time."

"Will do. Hey, I have a little adventure planned for after Herbology. Fancy a look inside the 'wishing room'?"

Scorpius opened his mouth to reply, eyes shining, but at that moment, a rush of students interrupted. The clattering and scraping of chairs would probably drown out their conversation, but Rose didn't want to take a chance, and she gestured for Scorpius to shut up. He did so, winking, and Rose realised that he was enjoying the cloak and dagger stuff as much as she was. It was exciting to have a secret and she planned on milking this one for as long as possible.

The teacher, no doubt alerted by the sounds of the rest of the class, came in through the study doorway from behind his desk, carrying a stack of test papers. Well over half the class groaned, but Rose was too busy skim reading Scorpius' notes to pay attention. It wasn't as bad as it could have been: Rose quite enjoyed this subject, and her mother had read the textbook with her before the start of term. Her background knowledge alone would have been enough for an A grade, but Rose wanted more. An E would be difficult with no revision, but definitely possible. When Professor Creevey handed out the test, Rose gave a sigh of relief. _Easy._ She needn't have bothered with Scorpius' notes, that was for sure.

"How do you think you did?" asked Scorpius, as he and Rose left the classroom. The bell had just rung and the corridors were slowly filling up with hundreds of loud, boisterous students. Quite a few jostled into the slow moving pair, causing Rose to scowl and jab at people that came too close with her elbows.

"It was easy." she said confidently. "Obviously, your notes helped, but really. The questions were so simple! Well, except for question 5. I didn't really know about that one, so I kind of made my answer up."

Scorpius smirked and slung his arm over Rose's shoulder.

"You are far too arrogant. Haven't you heard that saying, 'Pride comes before a fall'?"

Rose stared at him in confusion.

"No, I can't say I have. Whoever thought of it obviously never met a Weasley. What's it from, anyway?"

"Some muggle book. A couple of summers ago, I went exploring and found this little village near my house. I'd never seen it before, because the perimeter spells work both ways: unless I go far enough outside, it's invisible to me. They had a library of muggle books, and I smuggled a few out."

Rose laughed in delight, shocked by Scorpius' audacity.

"That doesn't sound like you! Do your parents know?"

"No chance! They'd go spare! They think it's a waste of time reading even wizard fiction. I can't see them being OK with me reading 'Artemis Fowl', can you?"

"Artemis Fowl? What on earth is that?"

"One of the books I read. About faeries and centaurs and stuff. It was _so_ funny! I almost felt sorry for the author, he was way off. But it wasn't bad. I want to go back some time, find some more."

"You are so weird, Scorpius Malfoy."

"I know. Now let's get a move on, or we'll be late. I don't want another detention from Longbottom."

They walked outside to the greenhouses, enjoying the warm sunshine beating down on their backs. It was turning out to be an unseasonably warm February, which was a nice change from the slushy, rainy January. As Rose passed the stone columns that lined the terrace, she saw Albus ahead, whistling as he walked to Herbology.

"Al!" she called loudly, suddenly realising that she hadn't seen him since breakfast. He turned his head, saw Rose and Scorpius, and slowed to let them catch up.

"Where have you been?" she asked, slightly red in the face from the exertion. "You weren't in defence!"

"I had my first counselling session" explained Albus, smiling cheerily. "It was really good. I talked to this trained psici… um… pshysci…"

"Psychiatrist?"

"Yeah, that. He works in St. Mungo's, and we talked about his job and stuff."

"Oh? And… do you feel counselled?"

Albus shrugged, looking unconcerned.

"No idea, never tried it before. But you should go, they're good."

"I think I'll pass on that thanks."

"I can't believe you get to miss lessons." moaned Scorpius enviously. "That is so jammy. My great uncle Alf died in October, but they didn't give me time off."

"Didn't he die in Azkaban after being arrested for torturing a muggle born?"

"Well… yeah. Actually, my dad says he was always a right bastard, and I never had to meet him."

The trio's laughter echoed into the grounds, and they continued on their way to the greenhouses. Rose paused just outside, watching the students already there through the thick glass. They were blurry, hardly visible and less defined through the accumulated dirt of centuries, and Rose spent a moment trying to guess who was who.

"Albus!" she said, suddenly remembering her plan. "I'm off to the 'wishing room' after this. Wanna come?"

"Can't wait! Who else is going?"

"Scorpius. Chris might turn up too, I guess, but I haven't arranged it with him."

"Sounds good. I can't wait to see what it's like."

"Al, I swear you'll love it! It's so amazing! Anything you want, it can just make it appear."

"This Herbology lesson can't be over fast enough…"

Albus was right. The lesson dragged on and on, not helped by the fact tthat all they were doing was potting baby flutterby shrubs. It was dull, it was painful (Rose was sure that hauling compost bags would give her some kind of back trauma if she kept on for much longer), but it ended, and none too soon. After two hours, the first years were permitted to leave, and after a quick visit to the showers, Rose met up with Albus and Scorpius on their way to the 'wishing room'. Instructing Al and Scorpius to close their eyes, Rose paced the corridor wishing hard for. _I want a place of quidditch supplies. I want a place of quidditch supplies._ No matter how many times she experimented, that first room drew her more than any other. She supposed it was because the quidditch store was her first experience of the wonder of the 'wishing room'.

She looked up, expecting to see the large wooden doorway, and so was shocked (and worried) when she realised that the wall remained blank as a canvas. That wasn't right…

She tried again. Nothing.

By now, Albus and Scorpius were making impatient noises, asking when they could turn around. Rose's stomach was starting to tie itself in knots. What if the room didn't work anymore? Or it decided it didn't like her? Or…

Oh. Right. Rose was feeling foolish. _Obviously_, someone was already in there. Probably Chris. _What room does he like?_ she asked herself, concentrating. _Clearly he didn't choose the quidditch supplies. Maybe the giant wardrobe? Nah, that's not his style. Oh! The living room!_

Just as Rose had a favourite manifestation, Christian seemed to favour the comfortable space that he had attempted to create while Rose was still in her Quidditch room. They had spent over an hour in his space, discussing the limitations and quirks of this most magical of Hogwarts secrets.

_I want the huge living room. I want the huge living room._ This time, something inside Rose, some instinct, told her that she'd succeeded. Sure enough, she opened her eyes and was comforted by the sight of the huge door. Relieved by her success, she shouted "Tah-dah!" exuberantly, spinning Albus and Scorpius around so they could see the door. Both broke into gasps of shock and delight, and Albus actually started applauding. Basking in their praise, Rose threw open the door, ready to show them into the room.

"Chris!" she said, as they all walked into the room. "Are you…

…Oh. My. God."

She saw that Chris was indeed in the room. But he was not alone. Immediately recognisable by his gangly limbs and black hair was James Potter. That was to be expected: after all, Christian had said he wanted to tell James. What was surprising (shocking, astonishing, astounding) was what they were doing.

James Potter was _kissing_ Christian Moore Bailey.


	24. Excert from: the secret diary of CMB

_**Christian Moore Bailey's secret and private diary. Keep out if you don't want to discover  
what kind of protective spells I've put on it.**_

Merlin. What have I done? Ok, so I was a bit pissed that Rose told Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy (who still doesn't  
like me by the way) about the wishing room (totally stupid name, but Rose insists. And she can be kind of scary). But  
I wasn't upset or anything. So what the fuck did I think I was doing? Why didn't I realise that she'd be showing her mates?

Or maybe I did know… maybe I wanted her to see.

Oh who am I kidding? Like I knew that would happen. Like anyone would have expected…

Why did I do it? I have no idea. I was bored after Divination. Rose wasn't in her common room, Mal was off with Terrence,  
and anyway, I should hang out with people my own age (and not my sister). So yeah, I headed up to Gryffindor to find  
James. He was with his other friends of course (he's so popular!) but when I said that I had something to show him, he  
followed me. This set off his moronic mates. Figures. I mean, not many people know I'm gay, but it's a common enough rumour.  
Just because I've never dated a girl.

Actually, I considered that once. Dating someone to throw the gossips off the scent. But it didn't seem fair (and for some  
reason, I attract really mean girls. No _thank_ you.)

As I was saying, James followed me, and I showed him the wishing room. So far so good. I'd imagined the space that I normally  
do, like the Hufflepuff common room but far more comfortable. We sat on one of the sofas discussing what the room could do,  
when I just… I don't know. Gave in to temptation? Got tired of waiting?

Well, whatever it was, it was a _bad_ idea.

We were right next to each other, obviously. I couldn't stop looking at him (can you blame me? He's beautiful) and all I could think  
about was how our legs were just touching. It felt like a current was running through me- electric tingles and shivers down my  
spine. Magic. I couldn't stop watching his mouth as he talked (I forget about what exactly). He has really beautiful lips, full and dark  
red. And I leant in… and I kissed him.

Crazy, right?

I froze for a second. Couldn't believe I'd done it. But it was too late to back out, and if I was going to ruin this friendship, I was going  
to do it in style. One of my hands went to his face, cupping his cheek. And for a second, one perfect infinitesimal moment, it felt like he  
was kissing back. My eyes were closed, heart pounding.

But the spell was broken. Rose's voice echoed in the room.

"Oh. My. God."

You can't imagine what it was like. I've spent years of my life covering up my 'secret' and even though Rose already knew, a large part  
of me just wanted to run. I didn't. Instead, I pulled away from James, and looked at him. And what I saw then, that made me run. You  
should have seen his face. He was _horrified_. Eyes wide, mouth wide, and just staring.

So yes, then I ran. Away from James, past Rose and her friends, all the way to my dormitory. Which is where I am now. Everyone else is  
at dinner, so I'm alone. I can't stop crying. Tears pouring down my face, staining my sheets, your pages.

What have I done?


	25. Dear Chris please

**_Dear Chris,_**

**_I'm writing to talk about what happened in the wishing room three days ago. I don't  
think that this can be ignored, as-_**

No. Too formal. I'll try again.

* * *

**_Hey, Chris!_**

**_Just writing to see how you are. Really want to chat about Wednesday, so come to  
Gryffindor common room any time-_**

Hell no! I sound like I've had a lobotomy! I'm never that cheery.

* * *

**_Chris_**

**_Look, I feel a bit weird writing this, and I guess you don't feel great either, or else you  
wouldn't be avoiding me. I'm sorry, ok? I just sort of panicked. It was a mistake, and  
I swear it won't happen again-_**

How can I say it was a mistake? It didn't feel like one to me. It felt amazing. New go.

* * *

**_To the pouf._**

**_What the fuck do you think you're doing, you fag?_**

God, I can't send that. Don't want to. It'd kill him. Kill me too. Why did I even write that?

* * *

**_Chris. _**

**_I'm not going to say sorry, because I'm not. I don't know if you meant to do it, or you  
made a mistake, or what. But I hope it wasn't, because it felt… good. Better than  
kissing Mellissa Bones, anyway. It seems like you're avoiding me, because I haven't  
seen you once. You're not turning up for remedial potions, and I talked to Robert. He  
said that you don't go down to dinner anymore. Please do. I'm worried about you.  
Rose is too. She asked me to talk to you, because she's embarrassed about how she  
reacted. So am I. I feel awful. When Rose walked in, and you pulled away, you  
looked at me and your face sort of… crumpled. And then you ran. We need to talk. I  
can't stop thinking about it, and my quidditch is suffering. (I'm sorry. That's not the  
point, and I know it.)_**

**_Look. Even if all you're going to say is that you didn't mean to, and you don't want  
to do anything else, you need to tell me. You can't just leave me hanging like this._**

**_Please. I miss you._**

**_Your friend, _**

**_James_**

Yeah. That's better. I'll send that.

Gods, but I miss him.


	26. Quidditch!

_**James**_

I am _so_ chuffed with Steve. He's the commentator, you see: he gets to sit in the staff tower, because it has a better view. And because he owed me a favour (silly sod forgot to do his Charms homework), he managed to get me in too. It doesn't hurt that Hagrid is the teacher in charge of monitoring the commentator: he'd never say no to a Potter.

I'm pretty excited. I haven't seen a match since the last Hogwarts final (The first one this year 'clashed' with Nan's funeral). Plus, Chris is playing, which will be...

Well, he's a good chaser. Normally, I'd be supporting Gryffindor (of course) but I figured that friends are more important, so for the first time ever, I'm wearing a Hufflepuff scarf. I feel sorry for them, really. Every other house got the shiny colours (gold, silver, bronze). What do Hufflepuff get? Black. On its own, that wouldn't be so bad. It'd keep the weepers happy, anyway. But whatever possessed the founders to pick _yellow_ as the second colour? I look like a giant bumblebee! Way uncool...

*#*#

Ooh, the players are walking onto the pitch. I can't tell which one is Chris, to be honest. These seats are the tallest in the stands (good during the game, but crappy when everyone is still on the ground). I'll wave anyway.

*#*#

Oh great, now Steve is looking at me funny. He's noticed that me and Chris have been a bit... awkward, I guess. I'm fine when he's not there, or near me or anything, but I get all tongue-tied and bumbling when I see him. I mean, look at me now: waving like a spaz. I think Steve has worked out that something is going on. Most people know that Chris is gay (ok, I know he acts like it's a big secret and all, but come on, like you can keep ANYTHING secret in this place) but they know that I am straight. The straightest of the straight. One of the only guys to have slept with a girl in our year.

But I still like Chris. Odd that. I'm definitely not gay. I haven't ever fancied a bloke until... well, Chris, obviously. And yet I still ogle all the girls. I guess that makes me bisexual. Or greedy, maybe.

*#*#

Oh, wait, I missed the take off. I should pay attention.

*#*#

Wow, Gryffindor are doing well. I know I'm supposed to be supporting Hufflepuff, but whatever. Nice one, Gryffindor...

*#*#

Whoops. Spoke too soon. Chris just saved two goals in a row. I need to ask him for help with my game. I'm not bad, but not in the same league as the house players. If Chris gives me some tips, who knows? Maybe I can make the team. I tried out in my first year. Trying to be like dad. I'd love to say that I was brilliant, obviously, but I wasn't. I crashed into the goalposts and got my first concussion. Ah, good times...

*#*#

"WHOOO!"

YES! 60-30 to Hufflepuff. Smith just scored four goals. She's playing really well. And blimey, quidditch definitely keeps you fit. Not an inch of fat on her. I'd probably quite fancy her if she wasn't a total shrew to talk to. I mean, I know guys are supposed to react well to rejection and sarcasm, but even we have limits. Even on the quidditch pitch, she's a total bitch. Oww... she just kicked the keeper in the shins. I'm glad that Hooch saw. Penalty to Gryffindor. And they... miss. Good save from Chris! And the thing about quidditch keeping you fit _definately_ applies to him...

*#*#

I'm getting kind of bored. They've been playing for two hours already, and no signs of it finishing soon. 200- 120 to Hufflepuff. That's a good score, considering that the snitch is still at large, but there's only so many goals that I can take without realising how mindlessly repetitive it all is. So I'm looking at all the spectators, instead. I can see Rose off to the corner of one stand. She's supporting Hufflepuff too, unlike Al and that muppet Scorpius (god knows why he's supporting Gryffindor- we're not exactly his best mates). Man, she looks so excited. Still. I forgot, but today must be her first Hogwarts Quidditch match. It's a big day for her. That Tanya chick doesn't look too happy though. Almost as bored as I feel. Clever girl. That lot are sat right near the top: a brilliant view. Almost as good as this one. And yet, despite that... I shiver. For a second, I got the impression of... I don't know what? Someone else? But that's not really possible. Nah, I must be mistaken. Looking closer, I can tell that nothing is there. Must be a trick of the light or something.

*#*#

Blimey, Steve is loud when he's commentating. At this rate, I'll be deaf before I'm 30. He's good though. Really captures the excitement of what's going, if you know what I mean. Although he seems to be losing his voice by now. I hope they catch the snitch soon, for his sake.

*#*#

Wait... Povey, the Gryffindor seeker is diving. Has he seen... yeah, I think he has. He's chasing a tiny glint of gold, but Hufflepuff is close on his heels. I've stood up, holding my breath, fists clenched. Barely a sound in the stadium...

Povey is reaching out... his hands inches away... and he... fumbled it?

I flop back into my chair.

Oh dear. I honestly don't know what the the Gryffindor Captain (Andrew Kane, he's called) was thinking when he brought Povey onto the team; he's not a patch on the last guy. Although... I've heard definite rumours that Andrew only did it to get in Povey's dad's good books. He's some bigwig in the ministry, and everyone knows that Kane is headed there next year. It's disgusting. They're diluting the quality of the sport, just to get ahead in work. Quidditch isn't supposed to be about that. It's about grace, good flying, and getting hit in the head by bludgers.

Hang on! Povey missed the snitch, yes, but the Hufflepuff seeker is still hot on its tail! I'm back on my feet, screaming him on, and...

YES! He caught it. About time too.

The fans are spilling onto the pitch to congratulate Hufflepuff. I suppose I should join them. Talk to Chris...

*#*#

_**Scorpius**_

Whew, it's mad in here! I've never been in the Hufflepuff common room before. I don't really like them much: too wimpy. Or maybe that's my prejudice showing itself? I don't know. I was never a fan of Chris, that's for sure. Although, to be fair, now that I know he's not cradle-snatching Rose, I can just about tolerate him.

Speaking of Rose, I wish she'd stop congratulating Chris and come and talk with me. I don't know many people here except her, Al and Tanya. But I can't talk to Al because he's... busy, with Tanya. Lucky bastard. They're right by the fire, oddly distorted by a heat haze. The weird shimmering is giving me a headache, so I look away. Where do my eyes land? Rose, of course. She's really confident, so strangers aren't a problem for her. Me? Not so much. Social anxiety. It all stems from my quiet upbringing, I think. At the manor, I only met a few kids my own age, and even then only a few times. Looking back, I know that Mum and Dad were trying to protect me from all the gossips and liars and cruel people that hate me just because of who my grandparents (ok, and my dad) are. But I wasn't exactly prepared for Hogwarts. I was lucky that Rose and Albus came along so soon, but apart from them I haven't really managed to connect with anyone. Tanya is ok, but I think she's scared of me. James hates me, and Chris is too irritating for me to handle.

Oh good, Rose is heading over here. She has a couple of bottles of butterbeer too! Hope one's for me...

Ah, it is. I love the taste. I can still remember my first ever bottle... aged seven. Thank Merlin for relaxed alcohol laws, that's all I can say. Butterbeer's so sweet, the actual alcohol is barely noticeable. Not like Fire whisky. I tried that once (stole it from my dad's private stash) but it burned my throat. Nah, I'll just drink butterbeer. Speaking of which... my bottle is empty. That was fast. But already there's the fuzziness about my vision. I'm not drunk –like Butterbeer is strong enough- but pleasantly... tipsy, I think it's called. It feels really good, and everywhere I look, things seem happier, brighter, warmer. Rose has never looked prettier.

Speaking of Rose, she's looking at me funny. I can't help giggling, and she appears even more perplexed. I motion at her to finish her bottle- everyone should feel like this- but she obviously disagrees and sets it down. Spoil sport. But I'd better not waste it. If she doesn't want it then I certainly do.

Wow. That bottle is gone too. This stuff tastes really good. I think I'll get another...

*#*#

It's what, three hours since we went to the celebration party? I'm not that sure actually, all I know is that my collection of empty bottles is groowwwiinngg. I wonder were Rose is. I'd look for her, but I can't seem to stand up, ha ha. Oh well. I like it here. I'm near the fire, so it's all warm and comfy. Actually, the heat is making me kind of tired. I think I'll just close my eyes...


	27. Missing: one girl

Rose scowled as she hauled Scorpius up from in front of what had been –several hours ago- the roaring fire. Now, only a few smouldering embers remained to light the room. Even after allowing her eyes to adjust, Rose could barely make out the outlines of the furniture, and she definitely didn't know the place well enough to navigate. Dropping Scorpius back onto the floor (and taking no small satisfaction from the loud thud he made as he landed), she illuminated the room with her wand, stuck it behind her ear and started to drag Scorpius all the way back to the Slytherin dungeons. It was a long walk. Even using some of the short cuts, it took a good fifteen minutes, and in the end, her back was aching from carrying him down the stairs. She'd considered rolling him down them, but that seemed a bit mean, even after last night. _Honestly, what an idiot, _she thought to herself, groaning under his weight. But she battled on, until eventually she reached their common room. That was her limit. Leaving him near the entrance, she staggered off to bed and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When she awoke, she was alone. The flickering torches around the room penetrated her bed hangings and she winced in pain as they filled her vision with far more bright light than could be good for her. Running a hand through her tangled hair, she dressed in silence and stumbled down to the common room. It was far too early to be awake, surely! But then there was no sign of any of her roommates, and only a few people were sprawled in the chairs in the common room. Glancing up at the clock over the fireplace, Rose was shocked to see that it was past noon. _Good job it's a Saturday_, she thought tiredly.

A sudden grunting snore drew her attention. Rose stared for a second, and then covered her mouth, stifling a giggle. It seemed that Scorpius hadn't woken up since she'd left him there, and some Slytherin (with an excellent sense of humour, in Rose's opinion) had quickly drawn a moustache and monobrow over his face in flashing green ink. Rose thought about waking him up, or at least washing off the graffiti, but the memory of having to drag him all the way back was fresh in her mind, and instead she carefully stepped around him and meandered down to the great hall. She'd missed breakfast, there was no doubt about it, but lunch would probably still be on the table and now that she was a bit more awake, Rose realised how ravenous she was. She picked up speed and arrived minutes later, stomach growling. She was in luck. Partially abandoned platters of food littered the tables, and she slid into her usual seat and grabbed at the food nearest to her. She was so absorbed in a chicken leg that for a moment she didn't notice the nervous presence next to her.

It cleared its throat. "Um... Rose?" said Albus, his voice slightly hoarse.

"What do you want?" she grunted through a mouthful of chicken. Albus recoiled, looking disgusted, but continued.

"I was wondering if you'd seen Tanya? I was supposed to meet her at breakfast, but she didn't show up."

Rose paused. Swallowed. And started complaining, seemingly without need for breath.

"Honestly Albus, do you think I've seen anything? As if it wasn't bad enough that I had to stay behind to make sure that Scorpius was ok, because he drank too much butterbeer (thanks for the help by the way, I really appreciated it), when he didn't wake up I had to drag him all the way to the common room. That's THREE flights of stairs, Al! THREE! And after the back pain (Scorpius should really cut down on the puddings) I barely had enough energy to drag myself upstairs. I was asleep in seconds, right? Because I'd been up for hours, and it was about two 'o'clock already. If that wasn't enough, I woke up and was practically blinded by the stupid torches because my bed hangings don't fit together right. THEN, I made my way downstairs and found out it was about one in the afternoon, and nobody thought to wake me up. I've JUST got dressed, my hair is a nightmare, and I am _starving_."

She paused, and stared directly into her cousin's eyes. "In other words, no I have not seen Tanya. Now go away. I'm eating." She tore another strip of chicken off the bone with her teeth, and glared fiercely at her cousin until he backed away. As he walked away, Rose could just about hear him say,

"But I'm getting worried...".

She frowned. Normally, she'd help Al out, but right now there were more important things than some drama queen that Al fancied.

*#*#

Rose was feeling much better after her late 'breakfast', and decided that it was time rouse the slumbering beast known as Scorpius. Knowing him, he'd be lying in exactly the same place: he could sleep for England even when he wasn't sleeping off over five pints of butterbeer.

Rose scowled. Just the memory of him was enough to annoy her. At first, she'd felt pretty bad. He'd been left in the corner all alone, as she chatted to Chris and the other team members. But after a few minutes she had joined him. It wasn't like he'd been left for hours or anything. SO why on earth did he decide to do his best to drink Hogwarts dry? It wasn't good for an eleven year old to drink so much. It was creepy in the Hufflepuff common room too, especially when the lights were dim and only a few people were around. The pillars that were so cheery in daylight became menacing, the carved faces growing grotesque in the shadows. It felt like they'd been watching her, and Al had agreed. Eventually, even he left, followed by Tanya, and Rose was left alone with a snoring Scorpius.

He had taken it too far. But Rose was supposed to be his friend, after all, and it would be mean to leave him all day. _The things I do for friendship!_ Rose thought grumpily. Mind you, waking him up didn't have to be boring. She could always have a little fun...

_**Splash!**_ A stream of cold water drenched Scorpius, causing him to splutter and shoot into an upright sitting position, eyes wide. Casually, Rose held out the now empty bucket and dropped it with a clatter before tugging him to his feet. Allowing a tiny smirk to grace her features, she roughly wiped away the ink that was now dripping down his face. Scorpius squinted at her, gave a loud groan, and dropped back down to his knees.

"Rose..." he said, tiredly. "What did you do that for? Where am I? And why does my head hurt so much?"

"Well Scorpius, I'm glad you asked." replied Rose brightly. "It's two in the afternoon on a Saturday and you weren't showing many signs of life, you're in the Slytherin common room where I dropped you last night, and your head hurts due to a combination of butterbeer and having your head banged on a stone floor."

Rose's smile grew as Scorpius' face changed expression changed rapidly, finally settling on one of puzzlement.

"Why is your hand green?"

"Well, I'll put it this way. Slytherins have a really good sense of humour..."

*#*#

"Well where have you looked?"

"Our common room, your common room, and then the Hufflepuff common room. I tried the Ravenclaw one too, but couldn't work out the answer to the stupid riddle, so I gave up. Then I checked the great hall, the kitchens and the quidditch pitch. I can't think of anywhere else."

"Well... maybe she's studying?" suggested Rose half-heartedly. She had to admit it didn't sound like Tanya, who was a thoroughly average student.

Albus didn't even dignify that with an answer. Instead he started pacing from wall to wall, frowning in worry. He ran his fingers through his hair, causing it to stick up even more than usual.

This worried Rose. It meant that this was serious business.

"Don't worry." said Scorpius reassuringly, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Hogwarts is a big place. She probably fell asleep somewhere after last night." He looked like he was about to do the same, Rose thought. Leaning against a stone wall in the abandoned classroom that they were currently inhabiting, he was squinting with red puffy eyes, and for once his hair was messy (and not even in the 'oh look how gorgeously casual my hair is. It totally didn't take an hour' way that James was partial to). Clearly, he was still suffering from last night. _Serves him right!_ she thought. _But... it's nice of him to reassure Al, considering he probably just wants to go back to bed._

"Well as you've already searched for her, I don't imagine that we can do much more. This place is a rabbit warren. Odds are that if we go looking again, she'll keep coming back to the places we just left. Let's go to your common room, and have a game of chess. She'll turn up."

"Don't be so cold, Rose! My girlfriend is" –Albus checked his watch angrily- "over eight hours late for breakfast, none of her friends have seen her, and I can't find her anywhere. I want to do more than sit on my arse."

"Well of course you do. You're Gryffindor, it's not like sense ever matters. You just want to charge off without thinking. Typical. Now stop throwing a tantrum, and lets go to the Gryffindor common room. Hey, perhaps you'll be lucky, and she'll be waiting there for you." This was said in a sarcastic, sing song tone that surprised even Rose –but then again, it wasn't as if Tanya was completely stupid, and Albus needed to realise that.

Al gave a final glare at Rose and stomped off in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, leaving Scorpius to glance worriedly at Rose and follow him.

*#*#

"Alex, mate! Sorry to bother you again, but I was wondering if-"

"No, Albus I _still_ haven't seen her. If I do I promise I will tell you. Now can I _please_ go to my dormitory?"

The aggravated third year stepped past Albus Potter, rolling his eyes and 'accidently' knocking into him. Hard. He wasn't the first person that was irritated by Albus' constant anxious questioning. There was a strange kind of empty-space bubble surrounding Albus, Scorpius and Rose, as nobody was willing to sit too close, in case Albus started threatening them (again) or crying (looking more and more likely). It was driving Rose insane. She kept glancing around, praying that Tanya would turn up before Albus had a total meltdown. Honestly, it was pathetic. She'd been missing for less than a day, and already Al suspected dark magic. _I am so sure_, she scoffed to herself. _If I were a dark witch or wizard, I would definitely go after an oblivious school student. _Tutting, Rose rolled her eyes at Scorpius, but he was too busy consoling Albus to notice._ Argh! _she thought_. There is nothing to do! _Bored of just sitting there, waiting, she grabbed an abandoned Daily Prophet, and opened it randomly, examining the article in front of her.

She stopped as she reached the end.

And went back to the beginning.

"Albus..." she said quietly, her eyes not leaving the page. There was no response. "Albus!" she said a little more loudly. Looking up, she saw him staring into space, seemingly deaf to her. Sighing in irritation, Rose set down the paper and reached across to Albus, dragging him forwards until he was inches away from the text. His indignant expression melted away as he read the article, and in the end he looked up at Rose blinking rather quickly. Looking nonplussed, Scorpius snatched the paper and scanned it quickly.

"You know this guy or something?" he asked. "Hey, wait, Aberforth? Wasn't he Albus Dumbledore's brother?"

Rose nodded dumbly. She was shocked, but not surprised. After all, Aberforth had to have been at least 125. And according to the paper, it was natural causes. But still. He wasn't a bad guy, a bit grumpy, but always willing to teach her or Albus silly songs or slip them butterbeer.

_Never again._ she thought mournfully. But for the first time, the news of a death seemed almost... normal. No unusual circumstances, no murder. It was almost a relief. Rose immediately felt guilty for thinking that. As if death was ever a good thing! But then again...

'_It is thought that Mr. Dumbledore died after suffering from a sudden heart attack and cracking his skull as he collapsed'. _It didn't sound pleasant. Heart attacks weren't common in the wizarding world, but they happened, and seemed to worry the population more than most magical diseases put together. There was something so... inevitable about it. No cure, and St. Mungo's just didn't know what to do with the people who survived one.

Scorpius was still blabbering on. "My dad knew someone who had a heart attack. He was massive, like really fat, and the mediwizards said that it was that that caused it. I dunno."

"Scorpius, can you shut up for a minute?" Rose hissed, gesturing meaningfully at Albus. "I'm sorry, Al. I know it's a shock. But at least he had a good long life. And he didn't die... badly"

"You mean at least he wasn't murdered, don't you?" replied Albus quietly.

"Well... yeah, I do. But that's true as well. The paper said he was found in his bar; not far from here. Mum and dad would probably pull me out of school if it was deliberate, and Uncle Harry is pretty protective too."

"Maybe you're right." said Albus. "But I'm going to miss him. Remember the time he let us try firewhisky? Your mum shouted at him for hours when she found out!" Rose laughed softly.

"Yeah, and it wasn't even worth it. It was awful!"

"I know! I don't want to try it again, that is for sure."

They sat a while, in contemplative silence. Scorpius was fidgeting, but knew better than to interrupt the peace. Rose stared at her hands, as if minutely interested in her bitten nails, or freckles sprinkled across her fingers. Albus just stared blindly, eyes unfocused. Rose supposed that the worry over Tanya, combined with the shock about Aberforth was making him... blank out. He never was great at handling shocks, after all. Better to just leave him alone, and wait for him to snap out of it. It shouldn't take long. As soon as someone found Tanya, she reckoned that he would get over most of it.

As if they were reading her thoughts, at that moment someone hurried up to them, panting slightly. He paused to catch their breath, and Rose noticed that he looked familiar. Narrowing her eyes, Rose examined him, trying to work out where she'd seen him before.

Ah, right, that was it. The hospital wing.

"Diggledus, right?" she said hesitantly. "Diggledus Trovelace?"

He looked a little surprised, but nodded quickly, wiping away the sweat from his forehead.

"I was told to come and find your cousin." he said. "It's his friend... that Tanya girl."

As I'd expected, the mention of his girlfriend brought Al quickly to attention. He stood up so fast that he knocked the heavy arm chair slightly, and it teetered on two legs. His eyes were bright, and slightly wild; he had obviously come to the same conclusion as Rose. If Diggledus was so out of breath, the news would not be good.

They were right.

"They found her!" Diggledus said. For a moment Rose thought that was all; that Tanya was fine, and Trovelace was just being dramatic. Albus clearly thought the same, he exhaled a sigh of release.

But there was more.

"She's knocked out. They found her on the seventh floor. Listen... it looks bad. There's a lot of blood."

Rose closed her eyes tight, scared. By the time they were open, the only sign of Albus was the edge of a black cloak whipping around the open portrait hole...


	28. Hagrid? He's harmless!

"Don't fuss, Albus" Tanya said weakly, her face barely visible from under the swathes of bandages. "I'll be fine. You heard what… she said."

"I can't help it, Tanya. I know what Madam Pomfrey said, but I've never seen anything like it. It was awful. You were lying in a great patch of blood."

"Look, I'm not staying here any longer. Madam Pomfey gave me some blood replenishing potion, and that's all that was needed. I was only knocked out. It's not like I was in a coma!"

"I'm not so sure. I mean, how long were you there for? The blood was dry by the time I got there, and that wasn't long –at all- after they found you. Maybe there was trauma! Perhaps you should stay for a bit longer."

Tanya seemed to have no answer to that, a fact for which Rose was extremely grateful. She'd been allowed to stay out of class for the morning; the only reason she was still in the stupid hospital wing. Tanya was clearly fine (if quite red- Rose supposed that the bandages must be sweltering) so what was the point of hanging around and getting agitated? Then again, when the alternative was History of Magic… it was a close contest. So close, in fact, that Scorpius had chosen the lessons. _Although he's a bit of a freak about History of Magic_, Rose thought wryly. Scorpius actually seemed to enjoy the subject, and had a vast knowledge about wizarding bloodlines. An advantage of being a pedigree pureblood, perhaps.

It was two days after Tanya had been found. She hadn't been allowed out of bed until now –under observation, Madam Pomfrey had called it. Albus had barely left her side, which Rose found pathetic, but Scorpius had said was romantic. It showed what he knew. Alright, it _had_ looked quite scary when they had seen Tanya. Her usually bright blonde hair was crimson, and sticky with blood, and about a foot of the floor was covered in the stuff. Not pretty. But still, not call for a full-scale panic.

Actually, Rose was impressed with how Tanya was dealing with it. Instead of whining (as Rose would have expected), the girl was pretty cheerful. Of course, that had the unfortunate side effect of Tanya NEVER shutting up. And this in turn had the effect of making Rose even more grouchy than usual. Which, even she had to admit, was no mean feat.

Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office, interrupting Rose's musings. After carefully checking Tanya's temperature, she slowly unwound the bandages, revealing a large purple bruise on the poor girl's head that looked twice the size of a chickens egg and protruded from her head. The nurse tutted and shook her head, but whipped out her wand and then performed a spell that seemed to make the lump deflate. The nasty colour remained, but as Madam Pomfrey said, _"It'll die down in a trice, and there's no need to waste valuable potion ingredients on something harmless and temporary." _Tanya looked ok about that –she wasn't terribly vain- and Rose hung around for a few minutes to make sure that she could get out of bed, and wouldn't need Rose's assistance. Albus had a steady hold of the girl's arm, so Rose said her goodbyes and slowly walked off to History of Magic.

It was quiet on the corridors, since everyone was in class, and Rose enjoyed letting the voices from behind doorways wash over her. There was no need to rush, since nobody was expecting her in class, and in any case, she had a note.

Rose knocked on the classroom door, and handed the note to Professor Binns silently. He blinked at her owlishly, no doubt trying to work out who she was, and then waved her into the classroom vaguely.

"Sit down, Miss… Wetherby," he wheezed. Rolling her eyes, she complied, and nodded at Scorpius.

"Is she out?" he whispered, as soon as the teacher had continued droning.

"Was just leaving, last I saw" replied Rose quietly as she unpacked her quills and parchment, and the textbook. "Did I miss anything interesting?"

"You really did!" said Scorpius, eyes shining. "We were debating the role of hags in the wizarding uprising of 1758."

Rose stifled a yawn.

"Sounds unmissable, Scorp, it really does. But I think I'm going to have a nap just the same."

Scorpius grinned slightly, far too used to her teasing to be offended.

"You can if you want, but we only have" –he checked his watch- "five minutes until herbology, so I wouldn't bother."

He was probably right, Rose reflected. But that didn't make the lesson any more interesting, so she quickly put all her things back into her bag. There was no real need to be particularly quiet about it; Binns was about as deaf as it was possible for a ghost to be, and anyway, 'Miss Wetherby' had been given a lot of detentions in this class. Rose hadn't served any of them.

Not a moment too soon for Rose –five minutes in the class and she was already about to drop off- the bell rang, and the children shuffled out of the room, all with dazed expressions, except for Scorpius. He bounded out by Rose's side, as if he had too much pent up energy to simply walk.

"And it was really good Rose! I had no idea that hags were so important! I've met a few, but they just smelt bad. I don't think they'd know what to do in an uprising if someone gave them instructions!"

"That's great, Scorpius" said Rose distractedly. "Hey, is that Albus? HEY! ALBUS!"

The last part was directed at the shaggy black haired boy walking down the staircase opposite Rose. Clinging to his arm, and looking thoroughly bored was a pale Tanya. She nodded at the two of them, as Albus headed towards them, battling through the crush of students.

"Hey Rose, Scorpius" Albus said casually, glancing at Tanya to make sure she was keeping up. "Off to herbology?"

"Course," said Scorpius. "Hey Tanya. How are you? I'm sorry I didn't stick around the hospital wing, but I really couldn't miss History of Magic."

Tanya gave him a really dirty look, and stuck her nose in the air.

"Well if you think that a lesson is more important than me, then who am I to judge?"

Scorpius looked guiltily at the floor, but remained silent, and Rose knew that he was sensitive enough to feel bad about leaving Tanya, despite the fact that she was in capable hands. It was just another reason to dislike Tanya- she was good at making people feel bad.

"Tanya! You're out o' hospital!"

The four students turned around to see Hagrid ploughing through the crowd to get to them.

"I'm glad to see yer up an' about again, Tanya. Feelin' alright?"

"Yes Sir," Tanya replied, staring up at him uncomfortably. Albus gave a small chuckle.

"Sir? Hagrid's not a sir. Are you Hagrid?"

"Weren't a Sir for the firs' sixty three years o' my life, an' I'm not now. Not for you, anyhow."

Tanya laughed, blushing slightly.

"Right. Sorry, H-Hagrid."

"Ah, it's alright. Bet you're feelin' a bit rough after spendin' all that time in the hospital wing."

"Yeah, that's right." There was a brief silence. "Well... we have to go. We've got... Herbology, I think?"

"Yeah. Come on then. See you Hagrid!"

"Bye. Take care, you lot!"

"We will," they chorused, before hurrying to the greenhouses.

"Are you ok?" Albus asked Tanya, a little concernedly. "You were acting odd with Hagrid back there. You don't mind him, do you?"

"No! Well... yeah. A bit. He's so tall. And a half giant! You can't tell me that's safe. I'm sure he's a really... nice_... person_, but you can never quite tell, can you?"

She was brought to a halt as Albus stopped moving, jerking her arm in his surprise. It was, of course, Rose that broke the stunned silence.

"Oh well of _course_ you think that. You know, I'm really glad we've got this sorted out. Just as I was starting to _not_ hate your guts, you say some stupid thing like that, and I realise that, no, my first impression of you was totally right. A brainless bimbo, who doesn't understand that children don't always turn out like their parents." Rose gave Tanya a meaningful look, and gestured at Albus.

Tanya didn't look particularly offended, although she did whip around towards Albus, and say loudly  
"Are you just going to let her talk me to me like that?"

"Well, the thing is Tanya, yeah I am." replied Albus sadly. "Hagrid _is_ a good person. He helped my dad all through Hogwarts, and I don't see that you have any right to judge him because of his mum."

Tanya looked quickly at Scorpius, who shook his head.

"I'm not getting involved. I don't know him myself, but he seems nice enough."

"I'm sorry!" pouted Tanya, suddenly contrite. "I didn't mean to upset you." She tugged her arm from Albus' grasp, and wrapped it sinuously around his waist. "Forgive me?" she said, a pathetic quiver in her voice. Behind her back, Rose stuck her finger down her throat, making Scorpius chuckle slightly. Even Albus looked annoyed, not that surprised by her sudden change, but definitely unimpressed. He struggled to detach himself from her, glaring slightly.

"Tanya, are you ok? Are you sure you're not still ill? Feeling headachey, or forgetful?"

"Don't be silly! I'm fine" She replied, with a brittle smile.

"They why on _earth_ would you think that I'd just ignore what you said about someone who I've known my entire life? Look, just go away. I don't even want to talk to you right now."

A look of intense frustration and anger filled Tanya's face, but she looked around, and, noticing that the last stragglers were watching with interest, schooled her expression. Nose stuck in the air, she flounced off, leaving Albus, Scorpius and Rose standing in dismay.

"See, Albus" said Rose quietly as Tanya disappeared down a flight of stairs. "She's not some delicate flower. The stupid cow can take care of herself."

Scorpius slapped Albus across the back gently, as the trio began following Tanya to herbology.

"Better luck next time. Besides, she might change her mind and mature a bit," he said sympathetically.

"Oh don't be so pathetic both of you! You're acting like you were going to get married to her, Al! You're eleven; act your age. Besides, I never liked her. You should have listened to me."

Scorpius winced, screwing up his eyes at Rose's lack of tact. You could always trust Rose to speak her mind, but she was always so... brutal. It didn't surprise him when Albus stiffened, and sped up, leaving him to walk with Rose.

"You don't think you could have been a little bit more kind?" he asked hesitantly, not wanting to get his head bitten off.

"Look, I've been saying this since he first met her- the girl is a complete idiot! If he'd only paid attention to me then, he'd be a lot happier now. Not my fault."

"But-"

"Not. My. Fault." she growled. "Now come on, we're like five minutes late for herbology already, and I don't fancy being stuck with _another_ detention.

They were lucky. Although they arrived ten minutes after the bell had rung, Professor Longbottom merely gave them a long-suffering look. He didn't even take any points, which Rose thought was rather nice of him. She joined Albus, Scorpius following behind her. Looking around, Rose realised that Albus had taken the trestle table furthest from Tanya, who was forced to pair up with a few Slytherins who didn't look happy. Nor did she, really though. She looked about ready to attack them, her jaw clenched and she seemed to be speaking very little. Rose smiled in satisfaction, and turned back to her own table.

Albus was carefully avoiding looking up, totally focused on the small shrubs that they were examining. Rose rolled her eyes, but knew that Albus didn't like direct confrontations. She considered it one of his main character flaws; how was he supposed to get ahead in life if he was too timid to do anything about his problems? But she knew he wouldn't change. And so she kept (mercifully) silent on the subject.

The lesson passed relatively pleasantly, with the three of them cracking jokes and laughing loudly. Only in the brief moments of silence did the strain become apparent, but those moments were few and far between. However, their classmates seemed to notice the tension, and soon a few of the more gossipy students were sidling up to Tanya and asking her what had happened. To Rose's surprise, Tanya didn't seem to be giving anything away- in any case, the gossips all returned to their places with faintly disappointed expressions, but Rose was sure that it wouldn't last. Tanya liked attention.

The bell soon rang for lunch, and Albus was so hungry that he decided that it would be a waste of time showering first. Besides, it wasn't an extremely practical lesson, and the dragon dung hadn't been touched (thank god). And so he headed immediately to the great hall, Rose and Scorpius both deciding to follow his lead. There were in the minority, which was quite pleasant; after the little display in the corridor and herbology, there were sure to be some curious classmates. But they managed to escape the worst of it, and by the time most of their fellow students had arrived, hair still damp from the disgusting school showers, Rose was on her second helping of lasagne. It was, as usual, truly delicious, and in between bites, she considered going down to the kitchens to thank the house elves. Her mother had suggested she do this at least once a month –as she put it "_They might refuse high wages, but they still like to be appreciated"_. Rose had agreed, and soon discovered the hidden benefit – house elves weren't above sending their best food to the house that was kindest. It wasn't… favouritism exactly. More that they wanted to impress the people who showed an interest.

Rose's musing were interrupted by the arrival of Susan Carter, who immediately sat next to Rose, draping an arm around her shoulder.

"Hey Rose!" she said chummily, a far cry from her usual disdain. "How are you?"

"I'm alright thanks, Susan…" Rose replied cautiously, suspecting why the girl was there.

"Are you sure? In Herbology, you seemed a bit… unhappy."

Now that was a downright lie. Rose had deliberately been as cheerful as possible, to try and avoid any gossip.

"No, Susan" she cooed in a sweet voice. "I'm afraid you must be mistaken. Your imagination playing tricks on you, most likely."

Susan looked frustrated, a slight frown creasing her brow, but she continued, unwilling to give up.

"Not had a fight with Tanya then?"

Rose was fast becoming irritated by the interrogation, and wondered why Susan Carter had decided to approach her, rather than Tanya. She cultivated a reputation for inapproachability, preferring the company of a few rather than many. Tanya, on the other hand, was far more open, and much more prone to chat.

"Well don't you ask her?" she asked, her voice tinged with impatience.

"We did, but she didn't answer. Acted really oddly. Barely said a word throughout Herbology." Susan gave an offended sniff, and rose from her seat. "Well if you're sure you're not upset, I suppose I'll be on my way." Picking up her bag, she began to walk off before pausing, and saying; "remember, you can always talk to me. I won't tell anyone."

_The day I confide in her is the day mum owns a house elf! _Rose thought snidely. _Slippery little serpent, she is._ She scowled at Susan's retreating back, and turned to Albus who had watched the scene with amusement.

"Thanks for your help,_ cousin dearest_," she said sarcastically.

"Well, you seemed like you could handle it. Besides, who am I to come between you and your new friend?"

Rose snarled at her cousin, giving a rude hand gesture, but Albus merely laughed, and started chatting with Scorpius who had remained silent throughout the encounter. Grouchy and silent, she was the only person to see Tanya walk through the doors, alone and with her eyes trained on Albus. At this point, Rose would usually feel the first pangs of pity, but the expression on the girl's face -outright loathing- left Rose feeling cold, despite her warm surroundings. However, the girl seemed to master her expression, and seconds later, there was only a faint smile on the girl's face. The change was so sudden that Rose half wondered if she had imagined it, but she looked away quickly all the same. From the corner of her eye, she saw Tanya sipping her drink as she took her seat at the Gryffindor table; as far away from Slytherin as possible, and with her back to Rose.

Rose shivered. Sometimes, what with the girl's prattle, it was easy to underestimate Tanya. She'd have to remember not to.


End file.
